Google has begun handing out a test version of Privacy Sandbox for Android. The initiative is the company’s effort to combine user privacy with targeted advertising, which it has been working on for years as part of its planned transition away from cookie-based online monitoring.
The Topics API, which gathers a list of your top interests based on use, is one of Privacy Sandbox’s cornerstones. It then compares them to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s database and Google’s statistics. Partner publishers may ping the API, which replies with a list of interests to assist in serving suitable advertising without disclosing too personal information. According to Google, saved interests are “preserved for just three weeks, and outdated subjects are erased.” Moreover, data and processing are performed on-device “without the involvement of any other servers, including Google servers.”
This is the first time Privacy Sandbox has been made publicly accessible on Android. Google is continuing working on the Chrome Privacy Sandbox (here’s the timetable), which it has been testing with developers for over a year. It claims to have received input from hundreds of businesses, which has helped develop its strategy.
Google’s Privacy Sandbox is the company’s response to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which was introduced in iOS 14.5. The function needs user authorization to monitor them across other applications and websites. Google calls ATT a “brutal approach” since it does not provide an alternative means for app developers and marketers to restore lost revenue from cookie-based targeting.
It’s an arms race between privacy and advertising. When systems like iOS prohibit the traditional methods of monetizing advertisements, marketers may (and do) turn to fingerprinting: gathering apparently innocuous device data that, when stitched together, can identify you almost as effectively as cookies. Regrettably, it is difficult to identify and avoid. Google thinks that Privacy Sandbox will achieve the appropriate balance between privacy and money from advertisers and developers.
According to Google, the Privacy Sandbox beta will be released gradually, beginning with “a small number of Android 13 devices” and steadily growing from there. You’ll notice a notification on your smartphone asking you to join the beta if chosen. After agreeing, you may check tracked subjects and opt out individually by visiting the new Privacy Sandbox area in your device’s Settings menu. Also, the menu allows you to exit the programme.
