Google is already moving to phase out third-party tracking cookies on its Chrome browser, prompting the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority to open a probe last year into whether Google’s “Privacy Sandbox” effort could cause advertising spending to become concentrated on its advertising ecosystem at the expense of competitors.
#Gets uk antitrust scrutiny on data software#
“It’s great they are involving developers in the process early to make sure we have time to react and participate in such an important change.”īecause just two US companies own the gateways for app developers to deliver their software products in much of the world, anything Google and Apple do that limits the ability of app developers to use the personal data of their users could carry the whiff of an antitrust violation. “We support Google's effort to elevate privacy standards on the platform, while making it easier for users to understand how their data is being used,” said Alex Pelletier-Normand, the chief executive of Rovio.
#Gets uk antitrust scrutiny on data android#
To signal the more collaborative approach it’s taking, Google released a list of app developers including Snap, DoorDash, Activision Blizzard, Rovio and Duolingo that said they’re willing to work with Google on the Android changes. “In order to ensure a healthy app ecosystem - benefiting users, developers and businesses - the industry must continue to evolve how digital advertising works to improve user privacy,” Google said in the post. What is clear is that in the wake of Apple’s changes and growing regulatory pressure such as European Union and US legislation to ban targeted advertising, and Android privacy enforcement actions filed by four US state attorneys, Google made the call that the world’s other dominant mobile platform couldn't stand pat on how Android apps access and use personal data.
Think Facebook, which said this month that Apple’s app privacy changes will cost it $10 billion in revenue this year. While Google appears determined to take a less adversarial position toward apps’ use of personal data than Apple did -perhaps not terribly surprising because Google gets most of its revenue from ads, while Apple doesn’t - the move will cause worry for other ad-supported tech companies. In a clear reference to Apple’s launch last year of its AppTrackingTransparency policy that requires iOS users to choose whether to allow apps to track them, Google said “blunt approaches are proving ineffective,” and it will concentrate instead on efforts to “develop effective and privacy enhancing advertising solutions, where users know their information is protected, and developers and businesses have the tools to succeed on mobile.” In a blog post, Android’s chief of security and privacy, Anthony Chavez, said Google will take several years to design technology that will change the way third-party Android apps can use personal data, “with the goal of introducing new, more private advertising solutions.” As Google announced it will gradually change the access to personal data of apps on the Android platform, the company signaled a more collaborative and deliberate approach than Apple’s - but one that will nevertheless have to navigate the Scylla and Charybdis of privacy and antitrust scrutiny.
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