Google play store app: Google move to make Android apps more private

As Google plan to limit data tracking for dia Chrome browser, dem also plan to extend am to dia smartphones wey be Android.

Dem call am Privacy Sandbox and di aim na to limit di amount of user data advertisers fit gather.

Dia rival wey be Apple don begin force app developers to ask permission from users before dem track dem.

Dis news no go go well wit firms like Meta, wey dey put dia code on apps to track consumer behaviour.

Dis month, Meta tok say Apple changes go cost dem $10bn (£7.3bn) dis year.

Na 85% of smartphone worldwide dey use Google Android operating system.

No detail

Google go komot third-party cookies wey dey use pipo browsing history to target adverts from dia Chrome browser by 2023.

For one blog, Google tok say dem dey extend Privacy Sandbox to Android apps, and working on solutions wey go limit sharing users data and "operate witout cross app identifiers, including advertising ID".

Dis identifiers dey tied to smartphones and apps dey use dem to collect information. Google tok say dem go keep dem in place for at least two years, as dem dey work "with di industry" on new system.

"We also dey explore technologies wey fit reduce di potential for secret data collection, including safer ways for apps to integrate wit advertising SDK (software developer kits)," Google tok.

The tech giant no give details on how dem want do am.

Apple bin decide for April last year say app developers gass ask for permission from users to use IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers). Data from one advertising company, Flurry Analytics, wey Apple publish, suggests say US users dey choose to off dia tracking 96% of di time.

Google blog no name Apple, but dem refer to "oda platforms" wey dem tok say "don take different approach to ads privacy and restrict existing technologies wey developers and advertisers dey use.

"We believe say - if we no first provide path wey go preserve pipo privacy - such approach go dey ineffective," dem tok.

Google, unlike Apple, dey rely on advertising revenue.

Google attempts to create alternatives to third party cookies ontop dia Chrome browser never go smoothly.

Privacy campaigners and advertisers dislike dia first proposal - one system wey dem dey call Federated Learning of Cohorts (Floc).

Wetin Floc go do na to disguise identities of users and assign dem to a group wey get similar browsing histories.

Real-time bidding

Na Topics replace Floc, and dem announce am recently. Wetin dis one go do na to group users for inside topic clusters selected out of about 350 categories wey include fitness or travel.

When person visits one website, Topics go show di site and dia advertising partners three of dia interests from di previous three weeks.

Di Competitions Market Authority don dey scrutinise Google transition to more privacy-focused systems and tok say dem plan to extend dem to Android apps.

"We go continue to monitor dis closely and engage with Google on the nature and detail of dia proposals," dem tok.

Di average app includes at least six third-party trackers wey dia only function na to collect and share online data, according to one report wey Apple commission last year.

And any one data broker dey estimated to get data on up to 700 million consumers, according to research firm Cracked Lab.

Regulators, such as di Information Commissioner's Office for UK, dey investigate di advertising ecosystem, especially di way dem dey sell ads - known as real-time bidding - wey automatically place billions of online adverts on web pages and apps every day.