Security News > 2022 > February > Google expands Privacy Sandbox to Android

Google plans to extend its rework of web ad technology - the optimistically named Privacy Sandbox - to Android devices in an effort to limit the misuse of data in its mobile ecosystem.

It began to take shape a year after Google undertook Project Strobe, a rethink of Google Account and Android data access in the wake of ongoing security and privacy problems.

Essentially, the Privacy Sandbox aims to provide web advertisers with the ability to send ads to specific audiences and interests, and to know whether ads were viewed and were effective, in a way that complies with evolving privacy regimes like Europe's GDPR and the California Privacy Rights Act.

By bringing its Privacy Sandbox to Android, Google is following in the footsteps of Apple, which upended in-app advertising on iOS devices via its App Tracking Transparency framework.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority is currently considering whether Google's Privacy Sandbox disadvantages other online ad firms and Google has made commitments to the CMA to make its proposals more palatable.

"The Privacy Sandbox on Android is an important part of our mission to raise the bar for user privacy, while giving developers and businesses the tools they need to succeed on mobile," said Chavez.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/02/17/google_privacy_sandbox/