Google Will Curb App-Tracking on Its Smartphones

Google will extend its Privacy Sandbox project to its Android smartphones in an effort to curb the practice of advertisers gathering user data.

Writing on the company blog Wednesday (Feb. 16), Google’s Anthony Chavez said the tech giant plans to develop privacy-focused measures that would replace the alphanumeric identifiers tied to smartphones that some apps use to collect user information.

The company says it will keep those identifiers in place for at least two more years and give the industry plenty of time to prepare before any changes, and will work with the industry on developing its new system.

“Our goal…is to develop effective and privacy enhancing advertising solutions, where users know their information is protected, and developers and businesses have the tools to succeed on mobile,” said Chavez, Google’s vice president for product management, Android security and privacy.

Last year, Apple introduced a feature that limits the amount of data third-party firms can collect, providing Apple users greater privacy. App Tracking Transparency disables the ad tracking setting by default and requires app developers to seek users’ permission to turn it on. Data shows as many as 98% of iPhone users choose to opt out.

Read more: Google’s Proposed Chrome Privacy Sandbox Delayed Until 2023

While Chavez didn’t mention Apple by name, he wrote that “other platforms have taken a different approach to ads privacy, bluntly restricting existing technologies used by developers and advertisers. We believe that — without first providing a privacy-preserving alternative path — such approaches can be ineffective and lead to worse outcomes for user privacy and developer businesses.”

Google’s move could make things tougher for Meta. Earlier this year, Facebook’s parent company reported it would lose $10 billion in revenue this year due to the software changes Apple made to ad tracking through its iOS software.

Google’s planned changes are happening at a time when this sort of tracking by advertisers is facing growing scrutiny from regulators in Europe.

Last month saw hundreds of German publishers protest the Privacy Sandbox plan with a complaint against initiative at the European Commission.

See also: EU’s Plan to Protect Internet Privacy: Adopt Apple’s Solution

The Sandbox, which has been pushed back to at least next year, would remove third-party cookies and other functions from Google’s Chrome browser and replace them with privacy-protecting technologies.

But the German group argued the changes would breach EU competition law and have a negative impact on their businesses. Similar complaints have been filed in the U.K. with the Competitions and Markets Authority.