Microsoft is set to become the latest tech giant to develop its own tracking technology to replace the ubiquitous “cookie,” which has become the focus of regulators and privacy advocates. The company is internally developing the technology that would enable tracking across desktop computers, tablets and smartphones running Windows, as well as the company’s Xbox gaming console and services including its Internet Explorer web browser and Bing search engine, according to sources close to the company not authorized to speak publicly about Microsoft’s plans. Google is similarly plotting its own cookie replacement, and others such as Facebook, Apple and Amazon are expected to pounce on the third-party cookie’s vulnerability. The technology has served as the foundation for targeted online advertising by enabling browsing behavior to be tracked across sites and used to target ads.