Google data tracking hopes to walk privacy tightrope

Google is exploring an alternative to Apple’s new anti-tracking feature, the latest sign that the internet industry is slowly embracing user privacy, according to people in the know.

Internally, Google is discussing how it can limit data collection and cross-app tracking in a way that is less stringent than Apple’s solution, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private plans.

Google is trying to balance the demands of privacy-conscious consumers with the financial needs of developers and advertisers.

With more than $100-billion in annual digital ad sales, Google has a vested interest in helping partners to continue generating revenue by targeting ads to Android device users and measuring the ads’ performance.

In a forthcoming iPhone and iPad software update Apple is adding App Tracking Transparency, which lets consumers choose whether apps can collect data about them across other apps and websites. Facebook and other companies have complained the feature will limit their ability to serve personalised ads and generate revenue.

A Google solution is likely to be less strict and won’t require a prompt to opt in to data tracking like Apple’s, the people said.

To keep advertisers happy while improving privacy, the discussions about Google’s Android solution indicate that it could be similar to its planned Chrome web browser changes, the people said. The company said in 2020 it intended to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome within two years.

Google is developing a new privacy standard for web browsing that allows ad targeting with less-specific data collection. As part of this solution, the company has developed a technology that lets advertisers target groups of people with similar interests rather than individuals. Google is likely to take a similar approach with Android.