Google is considering developing an Android alternative to Apple’s upcoming imposition of App Tracking Transparency which the company is very likely to impose on developers which will require them to ask for permission to track iOS users across apps and websites.
Google has not issued an official statement that corroborates that the tech giant is indeed working on an anti-tracking privacy measure for Android, but in a separate statement hinted at the same.
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency was first announced at Apple’s developer conference last year. If a user opts for an option that they would rather not be tracked, Apple will disable the developer’s ability to gather the Identifier for Advertisers code or IDFA which will make it impossible for the developer to track the user.
Apple intends to enforce the policies failing to comply with which will get the app possibly banned or suspended from the App Store. Apple’s decision had caused a rift between the company and Facebook who accused Apple of being self-serving.
However, Google’s take on the App Tracking Transparency would not be as severe as Facebook’s. Instead of forcing opt-in requirements on app developers, the Android alternative may resemble some of the upcoming privacy controls planned for Google’s Chrome browser.
In the upcoming version of the browser, Google is planning to end some of the more insidious tracking technologies on the web by enforcing less invasive alternatives and presenting users with more opt-out mechanisms.
Google’s step towards ensuring that is known as the Privacy Sandbox. As part of that ongoing project, Google has taken steps to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome and is working on tools that allow advertisers to target groups of users instead of directly targeting individuals.
This process could perhaps explain how Google is trying to develop an anti-tracking measure for Android users.
