Security News > 2020 > November > Marketers for an Open Web ask UK competition watchdog to block launch of Google's anti-tracking Privacy Sandbox

Google's Privacy Sandbox took another knock today as Marketers for an Open Web wrote to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority requesting a block on the technology's launch.

Google is walking a tightrope with its Privacy Sandbox project.

By replacing some of the cookies beloved by marketers with the Privacy Sandbox, Google is inserting itself into a process that had historically been open and not under its control.

Google disagreed, telling us: "The ad-supported web is at risk if digital advertising practices don't evolve to reflect people's changing expectations around how data is collected and used. That's why Chrome introduced the Privacy Sandbox, an open initiative built in collaboration with the industry, to provide strong privacy for users while also supporting publishers."

As for the UK authority itself, a CMA spokesperson told The Register: "We can confirm we have received a complaint regarding Google raising certain concerns, some of which relate to those we identified in our online platforms and digital advertising market study. We take the matters raised in the complaint very seriously, and will assess them carefully with a view to deciding whether to open a formal investigation under the Competition Act. If the urgency of the concerns requires us to intervene swiftly, we will also assess whether to impose interim measures to order the suspension of any suspected anti-competitive conduct pending the outcome of a full investigation."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/11/24/google_mow_chrome/