Google is expanding its Privacy Sandbox to Android devices and the UK’s antitrust watchdog is set to play a crucial role in ensuring that the tech giant does not abuse its market dominance in the process, reported EurActiv.
On Wednesday (16 February), Google presented a multi-year initiative to introduce to Android its Privacy Sandbox, an initiative aimed at “building a more private, open web.”
Until now, the Privacy Sandbox initiative was limited to the web, with a view to restricting cross-site tracking performed by third party cookies via Google’s web browser Chrome. The move to Android is explicitly building on this experience.
“Google appears to follow a similar philosophy for the app ecosystem: replacing existing identifiers that power digital advertising (the Android Advertising ID) with alternative solutions that are said to improve privacy,” said Damien Geradin, founding partner at Geradin Partners.
The blog post announcing the change noted that more than 90% of the apps available on the Google Play app store are free, also thanks to digital advertising. However, the announcement added that the app ecosystem remains healthy, “the industry must continue to evolve how digital advertising works to improve user privacy.”
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