Does Chrome’s SameSite cookie policy influence Piwik PRO tracking?

On February 4, 2020, Google updated a Chrome browser and introduced a new approach to cookies (the SameSite update). Website owners need to label the third-party cookies. Otherwise, the third-party cookies won’t work in the Chrome browser.

Does the SameSite update influence your tracking? No, it doesn’t. Here’s why:

• Piwik PRO uses the first-party cookies. They are set in the Chrome browser as usual.
• From version 11.0.0, we add the parameter SameSite=Strict to container cookies. The SameSite=Strict restricts cross-site sharing altogether, even between different domains that are owned by the same business. This means that our cookies are labeled with the parameter that informs browsers that they are not meant to be shared.
• From version 11.0.2, we add the parameter SameSite=Lax to tracking cookies. The SameSite=Lax informs browsers that cookies are only set when the domain in the URL of the browser matches the domain of the cookie for the same-site requests or top-level navigation.
• From version 15.2.0, we add the parameter SameSite=Lax to container cookies. This parameter will still inform browsers that they are not meant to be shared. We’ll revert this change as soon as Apple fixes the Safari bug that affects our Consent Manager. Then the parameter will be set as SameSite=Strict.
• In versions earlier than 11.0.0, cookies are set as usual. The only issue you may experience is that in the browser console you may see warnings. We recommend upgrading your product to the latest version.

For more about Chrome’s SameSite cookie policy, read: “Cookies default to SameSite=Lax” and “Reject insecure SameSite=None cookies”