Google is making it more difficult for Android apps on the Google Play Store to track users who opted out of personalized ads, with the security update set to roll out in late 2021.
Google Play apps use advertising IDs to offer Android smartphone users personalized ads, which gives developers a way to monetize their apps. Currently, app developers can access the advertising IDs of all users, including those who decided to opt-out of being shown these ads.
According to a recent update on its support page (via MakeUseOf), the tech giant will no longer show the advertising ID of users who don’t allow personalized ads. Instead, developers will only get a “string of zeros in place of the identifier.”
Google notified developers of the upcoming privacy update, although no specific date was mentioned. However, the update will first roll out to Android 12 devices later this year, while all other Android devices will get the same treatment by early 2022.
Google doubles down on privacy
Google restricting Android app developers from seeing a user’s advertising ID is yet another way the tech giant is bolstering its privacy policies — something rival company Apple recently did with the introduction of App Tracking Transparency.
During the Google I/O 2021 conference, Google also introduced a new “privacy dashboard” to Android smartphones, allowing users to see what type of data has been accessed by different apps. While not as restrictive as Apple’s new privacy tool, Google announced other privacy features.
Earlier this year, Google made developers comply with a new policy update that blocks “broad app visibility” in Android 11 or later. This makes it difficult for malicious apps from stealing private data.
With ad-tracking generally being frowned upon, Google also took its first steps towards phasing out third-party cookies to stop tracking users’ browsing activity for targeted ads on Chrome. Its new approach to interest-based advertising is known as Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC).
The new privacy update is set to roll out later this year, but for those who use Google Chrome, you’ll be happy to know Google recently updated its Enhanced Safe Browsing feature to help you identify malicious extensions.
