Google Stops Tracking Users For Its Advertising Business With Privacy Sandbox

Google started the process of overhauling ad tracking on Android phones by bringing the Privacy Sandbox. (photo: Mark Boss / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - This year Google started the process of overhauling ad tracking on Android phones by bringing the Privacy Sandbox. This feature will work exactly the same as Apple's blocking of trackers on iOS last year.

Currently, each Android device is assigned a unique identifier known as an “advertising ID”, used to create profiles of Android users for developers to use to target in-app ads.

But when the new changes come, the advertising ID will be removed. Of course this will benefit the user's privacy more.

"Today, we're announcing a multi-year initiative to build a Privacy Sandbox on Android, with the goal of introducing a new, more personalized advertising solution," said Anthony Chavez, VP of product management on the Android Security and Privacy team.

“Specifically, this solution will limit the sharing of user data with third parties and operate without cross-application identifiers, including advertising IDs. We're also exploring technologies that reduce the potential for collecting confidential data, including more secure ways for apps to integrate with ad SDKs."

In fact, the company started adding privacy measures around advertising ID last year, by rolling out a change that lets users remove their unique identifier from the system, once they choose not to be tracked.

However, the advent of the Privacy Sandbox means that in the years to come, developers will have to use a different system to leverage data about user preferences.

It's not clear yet how the new system will work, but Android's developer information page on Privacy Sandbox currently lists four design proposals.

That includes a topic and interest-based advertising system, as well as the implementation of Chrome's FLEDGE API to allow developers to target specific users without needing to share their data with third parties.

For information, last year Apple also launched the same tracking blocking system, and introduced in iOS 14.5 called App Tracking Transparency.

This feature forces apps to ask users for permission to track activity across other companies' apps and websites. The implementation of the changes had a major impact on revenue on Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube, which are owned by parent company Google.

Google's main source of revenue is its highly profitable digital advertising business, a business that generated $61 billion for the company in the final quarter of 2021.

The presence of this change, of course, so that Google no longer gets a bad predicate about its advertising business. This is because he is currently facing an antitrust lawsuit alleging unfair practices in how to run digital ad auctions. This is quoted from The Verge, Thursday, February 17.