Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative won’t save you from web tracking
Anonymised data is still data
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
True to its word,Googlehas officially launched a beta of its “Privacy Sandbox”, a growing set of disparate initiatives designed to anonymise data tracking without wholly preventing it.
Per thelanding pagefor the release (viaGizmodo), the core tenets of Privacy Sandbox include eliminating the sharing of cookie data between websites, and processing data on-device but away from apps and external servers, restricting their access to that data.
The company is implementing limits onfingerprinting(the creation of data designed to identify a user) and the access spurious advertising platforms have to data belonging to an individual. However, it’s important to note Google’s Privacy Sandbox is not looking to revolutionizeor even antagonizethe online advertising industry.
Google’s Privacy Sandbox
Yes, users will still be tracked under the Privacy Sandbox, because Google intends to establish a system to use patterns within an individual’s data to create a vague profile of their personality.
This would mark someone out, for example, as a ‘’sports fan" or “bingewatcher”, to advertisers, without sharing specific identifying data with them, so they can still be served with targeted ads.
Thiscybersecurityconcept, generally known as differential privacy, is certainly better than ad and social media platforms creating dossiers on users whether they consent to that or not, and it’s good that such a system is being brought to a mainstream tech platform.
But if the idea of personal data being leveraged in any way sounds disconcerting, consider looking into freeprivacy tools, like browser extensions that stamp out ads and trackers such asuBlock OriginandDecentraleyes.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
Google to stop Android VPN apps blocking ads>Surfshark to make users' tracking “twice as hard” thanks to new VPN feature>We’ve also listed the best business VPNs right now
However, there are some things Google is trying to achieve with the Privacy Sandbox, which is still in active development, that make it a project worth keeping an eye on.
For instance, apps onChromebooksorAndroid phonescould run faster because of changes to the way data is processed on those devices, and Google seems committed to preventing “covert tracking”, so that if users are being tracked, they know about it.
Luke Hughes holds the role of Staff Writer at TechRadar Pro, producing news, features and deals content across topics ranging from computing to cloud services, cybersecurity, data privacy and business software.
This new phishing strategy utilizes GitHub comments to distribute malware
Should your VPN always be on?
New fanless cooling technology enhances energy efficiency for AI workloads by achieving a 90% reduction in cooling power consumption
