Tech giant commits to greater transparency and engagement
Search engine giant Google has offered new proposals on the way it uses customer data following an intervention by the competition watchdog.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it has laid out a series of commitments from Google over its Privacy Sandbox plans that risked squeezing competition by removing third-party cookies and other functionalities from its Chrome browser.
Investigatorsraisedconcerns that plans by Google to hide data - in the name of privacy would impede competition in digital advertising markets.
This could have cause advertisingspendingtobecomeeven more concentrated on Google, harming consumers who ultimatelypayforthecostofadvertising, the CMA said.
It may undermine the ability of online publishers such as newspapers to generate revenue and continue to produce
valuable content in the future, reducingchoiceforconsumers, it added.
As a result of the changes proposed by Google, the regulator said privacy could improve without adversely affecting users.
The CMA launched its investigation in June this year and heard from more than 40 third parties, who raised concerns that competition would be hit.
Google has now committed to greater transparency and engagement, alongside committing to no remove certain functionality before third-party cookies.
The tech giant added it will ensure the CMA will continue to play a role in monitoring the business and be mentioned in future key public announcements.
Staff will be told they must not make claims to customers which contradict the commitmentsandmustreportregularly on how they are taking thirdparty views into account.
Google has already announced a two-year delay on phasing out the third-party cookies for ad tracking on its browser until 2023 whilst it workswithindustrytoensureit isnotgivenanunfairadvantage.
Internallimitsonthedatathat Google can use will be clarified and greater certainty to third parties developing alternative technologies will be given, the CMA said.
Google has also committed to improving reporting and compliance, including by appointing a Cma-approved monitoring trustee.