Google’s ‘Privacy Sandbox’ is being rolled out in a beta
test to a limited number of Android 13 devices. The technology, similar to
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature, has been developed to improve
privacy and remodel ad tracking on Android phones.
More specifically, users can access Privacy Sandbox from settings and use it to manage or block topics they don’t want to be targeted for.
After allowing selected users to access the feature, Google
plans to gradually expand it to more people. Android users of devices that will
be selected for supporting Privacy Sandbox will be notified about their ability
to access it.
Android devices are currently assigned the Android Advertising ID, which works
to track user behavior and build a personal advertising profile accessible to
app developers. Privacy Sandbox will work in opposition to this ID by limiting
sharing of user data with third parties. It will also remove cross-app
identifiers, while still supporting personalized ads, using new privacy-preserving
APIs.
In addition to that, Google is expected to launch its Privacy
Sandbox for web project for Chrome by 2024.
