The Rundown: What you should know now that Google is bringing its Privacy Sandbox to Android

By Ronan Shields

For years many have deemed Apple’s virtue signaling over protecting the privacy of iPhone users as a covert means of handicapping the advertising empire of its Silicon Valley foes. And with today’s announcement that Google will soon experiment with its Privacy Sandbox on Android, that theory would appear validated.

Specifically, these solutions will limit sharing of user data with third parties and operate without cross-app identifiers, including advertising ID.

Anthony Chavez, vp product management, Android security & privacy, Google

First, let’s go through the facts as we know them now that the biggest online advertising company on the internet brings further restrictions to mobile advertising identifiers, or MAIDs, to the most widely used mobile OS on the planet.

Google will introduce Privacy Sandbox features on Android with initial design proposals expected this quarter.
Design and feedback iterations to take place throughout 2022.
A beta launch is expected by the end of this year.
“Scaled testing” will take place in 2023.

Google will support the Android AdID for “at least two years” and provide the industry with “substantial notice” of any future changes, according to Anthony Chavez, vp of product management, Android security & privacy at Google.

During a media briefing earlier this week, he further attempted to reassure attendees that the planned Android privacy overhaul will apply equally to all parties with “no special or privileged access to platform data for anyone.”

Additionally, Chavez further went on to explain how Google distinguishes between first and third-party data with the former deemed “fundamentally different” than when an Android device user’s data is exchanged between “different parties”.

He added, “We’ll continue to support first-party use cases on Android while we build these new solutions that reduce the need for third-party data sharing.”

So, what’s in store?

The rollout will build upon the Privacy Sandbox proposals that Google has been experimenting with and submitting for approval by industry peers, not to mention regulators, since 2020. Ultimately, Privacy Sandbox seeks to establish a set of technical standards that will enable ad targeting and measurement on the web post — and now on the Android mobile operating system — after the retirement of traditional targeting tools such as third-party cookies.

“Specifically, these solutions will limit sharing of user data with third parties and operate without cross-app identifiers, including advertising ID,” wrote Chavez in a blog post. “We’re also exploring technologies that reduce the potential for covert data collection, including safer ways for apps to integrate with advertising SDKs.”

Google’s Chavez further highlighted how “we believe that it’s critical to work closely with the industry with these new technologies to develop new “privacy-preserving APIs” that “won’t rely on cross-app identifiers.”

The planned APIs intend to enable key marketing functions such as attribution reporting, conversion measurement, ad personalization (including ad retargeting) in a manner similar to the use cases …read more

Source:: Digiday