Many people are justifiably concerned about their privacy and how their data is used online. To make web browsing safer for Android users, Google is working on a project it calls Privacy Sandbox, which will limit how you’re tracked across all websites.

Apple implemented a similar change in April 2021 called App Tracking Transparency, where users could opt out of data tracking in iOS apps.

In this article, we’re going to explore the changes Apple has made, what Google is doing differently, and what it means for you.

Apple already lets you opt out of data tracking

Before Apple changed its privacy policy last year, it allowed app developers to track data in apps to produce targeted ads.

While some users may enjoy ads focused on their particular interests, the notion that developers were allowed to pull your private data to create personalized ads may strike many as infuriating. At the very least, most can agree that you should at least be allowed to deny third parties access to your data.

As such, Apple introduced a permissions portal; Upon installing and launching the App, you have the opportunity to opt out of data tracking. If you choose to do so, Apple urges that developers not attempt to track your data using their own methods. It’s a simple yet effective way of keeping your data secure, and a huge step in the right direction.

However, Meta and Google are the major advertising platforms. The change saw Meta, whose revenue comes almost entirely from ads, projected to lose $10 billion by the end of 2022 alongside concerns from other platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and Google’s YouTube.

While these changes are necessary and appreciated by users, large companies like Meta could take a huge hit in this transition to a more user-friendly internet. So, what is Google doing about it?

What is Google’s Privacy Sandbox?

In 2019, Google introduced its Privacy Sandbox to much disdain. Following its promise to create a more private web, it was argued that blocking cookies used by many third-parties (and Google itself) to track user data would be detrimental to user privacy. It is believed that by eliminating these surface-level gateways to user data, trackers will resort to less agreeable means of collecting said data.

The promises of a privacy sandbox sounded hollow to many. Over time, Google has managed to smooth out the sandbox with technologies like Topics and Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), which allow sites to essentially infer user interests and create personalized ads, Which is actually an alternative personalized advertising solution without tracking your data through cookies.

On February 16, 2022, and Google announced on The Keyword that it plans to bring a vastly improved privacy sandbox to Android. Google says this will be a multi-year initiative, with the intent to introduce new and improved advertising solutions that don’t use cross-app IDs or Google’s advertising IDs.

All this, along with technologies that will protect user data from being surreptitiously collected or shared with third parties without consent.

It will also include secure ways for apps to integrate with the Ads SDK. Its announcement is titled Reassurance that Google recognizes the importance of user privacy and believes that, while its efforts have been substantial and well-intentioned, it has not done enough.

This does not mean that Google will not show ads

It’s important to understand that these methods implemented by Apple and Google are used strictly to prevent third parties from harvesting your personal data, not to eliminate ads altogether. Your Facebook timeline will still be lined with ads, and your YouTube videos may still have mid-roll ads.

What is important, however, is that Google hopes to phase out the use of cookies via its Privacy Sandbox soon.

Google’s previously mentioned topic proposal, set to replace FLoC, is a tool that will determine a number of “topics of interest” for you based on your browsing history. These subjects could be reading, riding a bike, or playing video games.

Because topics are generated specifically on your device without any interaction with external servers, participating websites will generate ads on some of your topics, providing a personalized advertising experience without actually collecting user-specific data. Google assures that this topic data is only retained for three weeks before old topics are deleted.