Google tests Privacy Sandbox for Android with users

MLet the sandbox games begin! On February 14, Google made the beta version of its Privacy Sandbox tracking technology available to select users of the Android mobile operating system. Notified users of Android version 13 can take part in the trial version and try out the so-called “topics”, which apps can use to display targeted advertising in the future. The system should also better protect the privacy of users.

Along with three other application programming interfaces (APIs), “Topics” is the replacement for third-party cookies, or the Android advertising ID, which Google intends to ban from its Chrome browser and Android operating system from the second half of 2024. Cookies are small files that websites place on users’ devices to create profiles of them. They were initially used, for example, to store digital shopping carts or login data. Now they are primarily used to collect information about which advertisements might be of interest to users. The Android advertising ID can be seen as the equivalent of cookies for Android, which can be used to create a pseudonymised advertising profile for a user across different apps.

Criticism from the advertising industry

In the run-up to the project, it met with widespread criticism from the advertising industry. There was a fear that the user profiles were too imprecise and made targeted advertising considerably more difficult. The free, advertising-financed Internet is even in danger, it said. For this reason, two class action lawsuits are currently underway in the Netherlands and Great Britain, which are intended to force Google to pay damages. There is talk of a loss of EUR 25 billion in advertising revenue for publishers and media houses due to the abolition of third-party cookies.

The topic is relevant to competition since Google has a market share of 66 percent with its Chrome browser and 43 percent with Android of operating systems across all devices. This includes not only smartphones, but also, for example, smart televisions.

“Google will probably keep the data on user activities itself and will no longer share it with third parties,” says Thomas Höppner, a lawyer at the Hausfeld law firm, who is critical of the Google ecosystem. Google itself can continue to serve very targeted advertising with its first-party cookies, which the company collects via the search engine, the Chrome browser or Android.

More than 220 billion euros in revenue

For example, the first results of a Google search are usually sponsored links from advertisers. The model is lucrative. In 2022, Google generated advertising revenue of around 224 billion dollars. Those who want to advertise elsewhere will find it more difficult in the future to display them to interested users if detailed profiles can no longer be created for them.

The topics are now intended to remedy this. Depending on the behavior of the users, Android creates a profile of them on different topics. A user who is interested in basket weaving gets a tick in the topic “Instructions and ‘Do It Yourself'”. Users can view their profile and deselect topics individually or switch off the privacy sandbox completely. Apps can freely access the profiles via APIs and display relevant advertising. Cross-app identification features should no longer exist and the transfer of data to third parties should be restricted.

Google’s attractiveness is still increasing

However, Thomas Höppner assumes that the API will be much less effective for refinancing apps than third-party cookies, which will also increase dependence on system providers such as Google. “At the same time, Google’s appeal as an advertising medium for advertisers is increasing,” says Höppner. Google will be able to present itself even more strongly as the only partner through which effective advertising can be placed.

Now that the beta version of the Privacy Sandbox has been in the hands of users for a few weeks, one would actually expect a lively exchange in the depths of the Internet about such a project. So far, however, discussions in developer forums such as Reddit or Github have been limited. Apparently, the circle of users is also very small and the exchange with Google on the subject is difficult. “As with the privacy sandbox for browsers, Google is pretending to be transparent and involving the industry in a way that doesn’t exist in this form. If those affected want to find out more, they hit a wall,” reports Höppner.

Google’s blog post on the beta test primarily addresses the protection of privacy. The digital fingerprint of a user in the browser or via apps and thus of the device used should be more difficult to trace. Partners such as the Internet company Yahoo Japan, the software developer Unity or the delivery service Wolt speak out in favor of improving the privacy sandbox compared to third-party cookies.

However, the statements do not provide any explanations as to what will be improved in detail. “Google can hardly bring forward the data protection interests of consumers for the changeover,” judges Thomas Höppner. Like many voices in the advertising industry, he agrees that the privacy sandbox is primarily intended to strengthen the search engine’s position in the Internet advertising ecosystem.