Google announces privacy changes to limit data tracking on Android apps
Goal is to deliver more private advertising solutions, but the current system will remain in place for at least two years
Google has announced a multi-year project to limit advertisers' ability to track users and target advertising across apps on its Android-based smartphones.
The initiative is a follow-up to Google's previously announced Privacy Sandbox programme, which aims to minimise data tracking on its Chrome browser.
In a blog post, Anthony Chavez, VP product management, Android security & privacy, said that the goal of the latest initiative is to deliver more private advertising solutions that limit sharing of user data with third parties and function without cross-app identifiers, such as advertising ID.
Different apps gather information using these IDs, which are linked to individual smartphones.
Google said that it will keep the current system in place for at least two years, while working to introduce a new method "with the industry".
The company said that it is also looking into solutions that would lessen the risk of covert data collection, including safer ways for apps to integrate with advertising SDKs.
The new will come as a blow to companies like Meta, which track user behaviour by putting their code on apps.
Meta said this month that Apple's privacy changes introduced last year would cost it $10 billion in 2022.
In April last year, Apple said app developers must explicitly seek permission from users to use IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers).
While Google's blog did not mention Apple, it referred to "other platforms" that "have taken a different approach to ads privacy" - bluntly limiting existing systems used by advertisers and developers.
The company believes such approaches may not provide desired results unless a privacy-preserving alternative option is initially provided.
"Blunt approaches" are proving ineffective and might result in worse consequences for user privacy and developing businesses, according to the company.
Commenting on Google's decision, Tom Bianchi, EMEA CMO of digital experience company Acquia, said: "Google's decision to change how apps can track Android phone users underscores how privacy and transparency initiatives are fast becoming the rule and not the exception, as Big Tech companies wake up to the fact that opaque data usage is no longer acceptable to the man on the street.
"The changes, which mirror those introduced by Apple's App Tracking Transparency, will be viewed as another hammer blow to ad revenues by the likes of Facebook, but the emphasis on transparency should be seized as an opportunity rather than feared as a threat. It is time for marketers to plot a new course anchored by consent, privacy and transparency.
"The sooner brands recognise that giving consumers back control of their data benefits both the business and its users, the sooner trust can be restored. Limiting the amount of data that advertisers can gather and offering consumers the choice of whether or not to opt-in to app-tracking is a major step towards achieving this goal."
Browser bother
Google's latest move comes amid reports that the upcoming releases of its Chrome browser might cause bugs or compatibility issues for websites that are not ready to handle triple-digit user-agent strings.
A user agent is a string that a web browser uses to get information about a piece of software, including its name, version, and technology.
The issue also affects Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge, both of which are also nearing their version 100 releases. Chrome and Edge are expected to go to triple figures next month, with Firefox version 100 following in May.
Mozilla and Google are currently running tests to evaluate how version 100 would affect websites.
Mozilla announced its findings in a blog post this week, noting that the issue affected a limited number of sites that couldn't interpret a user-agent string containing a three-digit number.
'Browser not supported' warnings, site rendering difficulties, parser failures and 403 errors are among the flaws.
Fortunately, both browsers' developers have a plan to address the issue.
If breakages become widespread and unmanageable, Mozilla says it would either patch damaged websites immediately or temporarily freeze Firefox's major version at 99.
Google's backup plan is to use a flag to freeze Chrome's major version at 99.