What is a cookie?

A cookie is a file format that takes into account the HTTP protocol, responsible for access to so many internet domains, which aims to store information from visitors to the site pages.

The storage happens immediately after the user's confirmation and, generally, has purposes for marketing use. In other words, it serves to classify the lead in a sales funnel stage.

From this classification, the lead lives a more personalized experience on the site, having access designed based on his needs and with marketing ads more effective and related to the desires of that moment.

From the business perspective, the cookie can easily be an important ally in prospecting new leads and, in the future, making more sales.

From the user's perspective, accepting and granting access to more individual information ensures a more personalized environment, making the content experience more dynamic and closer to the most useful content.

However, the removal of cookies also follows the national and global market trend, increasing security in digital operations and avoiding possible data leaks.

Especially in the case of Brazil, personal data is the protagonist of the current changes in the market, brought about by the sanction of the LGPD.

What is Brazil's LGPD?

The LGPD establishes guidelines and obligations for the collection, storage and processing of data considered personal, such as address, credit card numbers, email, telephone and id numbers, among other information related to individuality.

In Brazil, Law 13,709 went into effect on September 18 - 2020, after some delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In short, the LGPD imposes clearer and more specific laws for the Brazilian internet. Among them are:

Ensure the right to privacy and protection of users' personal data, through transparent and secure practices, guaranteeing fundamental rights;
Establish clear rules about the treatment of personal data
To strengthen the security of legal relations and the confidence of the data subject in the treatment of personal data, guaranteeing free initiative, free competition, and the defense of commercial and consumer relations;
To promote competition and free economic activity, including data portability.

What is the relationship between cookies removal and LGPD?

The removal of cookies and the LGPD are not directly related. This is because the end of cookie support has come from the large digital ad companies, especially Google. However, LGPD does not fail to impact this end.

Although efficient, cookies have proven to be unsafe and have caused data leaks due to users' naivety.

According to a report by startup Wibson, 94% of users accept cookies automatically, while 5% reject their use and only 1% customize which data is given away.

From this, a very common practice has been created: the use of malicious cookies. These are malware cookies that work in a similar way to traditional cookies, however the information is saved for future scams or extortion.

Keeping in mind that many users simply trust and accept the cookies, this type of scam has become quite common and has been responsible for many losses, both among home users and even businesses.

With the enactment of LGPD, the removal of cookies has become a necessity for the domestic market.

In parallel, large technology and advertising companies were forced to end support and encourage new alternatives for personalizing the user experience.

Therefore, there is no direct relationship between the end of cookies and the LGPD, but both come at a time of increased attention to the use of individual user data.

What does the end of cookies mean and how will it be done?
The end of cookies should happen by 2023, the deadline imposed by Google for companies to use alternatives to the previously popular storage packs. However, support for the new solution is not yet defined.

Today, the removal of cookies will have the addition of Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), a format that ensures anonymization and groups users based on tastes and content preferences.

Broadly speaking, FLoC serves the same purpose as the cookie. However, here the user is not identified or linked to data of an individual nature, but rather grouped into groups with similar tastes and information.

In this way, by personalizing an ad, the company will impact groups of people who seek similar experiences. Thus, you will have the attention not only of your lead, but also of potential leads who do not yet know your product or service.

What is the impact of cookie removal?

The removal of cookies will have a short to medium term impact, where users will have less personalized experiences and companies will have to reorganize internal advertising. However, the overall aspects of the end of cookies are more positive and very few negative.

Positive because they keep pace with new market needs. Even the FLoC guarantees data anonymization, a very relevant point when applying the new guidelines of the General Data Protection Law.

Besides following trends, it will offer more protection to users by putting an end to the use of malicious cookies.

However, it is worth pointing out that the cookie alternative is not yet a consensus among browsers. On the contrary, popular browsers such as Microsoft, Mozilla and Opera have positioned themselves against the FLoC.

This is because, although it does not link individual information, Google would have data from thousands of users. This, in theory, would only benefit the tech giant.

Thus, the impact of the end of cookies has its positive points by providing more security, but there are reservations about the new alternatives.