Google is exploring an alternative to Apple Inc.’s new anti-tracking feature, the latest sign that the internet industry is slowly embracing user privacy, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Internally, the search giant is discussing how it can limit data collection and cross-app tracking on the Android operating system in a way that is less stringent than Apple’s solution, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private plans.
Of course it’s going to be less stringent than Apple’s solution. Can’t limited ad tracking too much if ad tracking is how you make money.
Most of these corporate privacy policies are not designed protect consumers from their own data harvesting, but are designed to limit 3rd party tracking. It’s easy for a company like google, apple, microsoft, facebook, etc to say they care about privacy. But it is not sufficient to judge them from what they say, every one of them needs to be judged by the data they collect. They emphasize the importance of privacy and transparency when they’re throwing others under the bus, but when it comes to their own tracking bugs they shift to being less transparent and cover their tracking activities under generic catchalls that leave users with unclear understanding of what’s being collected. These companies need to enforce privacy within themselves and not just for 3rd party devs.
Those Google ads you see on websites are 3rd party tracking as far as Android is concerned, it’s not like when Google collects Play Store preference data or anything like that.. And this is where the conflict of interest shines through.
Seen it all before. Basically, careerism and self-interest and least effort: i.e. not budging until the pitchforks and torches are at the door. It’s a sign a company has matured to a point it is no longer innovating and holding a defensive position while its largely unregulated and unnoticed business as usual activity goes unremarked, Large companies can be so big and have such a secure monopoly/oligopoly position they effectively become part of the state. It’s becoming rare especially in the UK for a regulator to act and the UK threw its technology leadership away decades ago. Sadly most effort is coming from the EU. I suspect without the EU taking a lead nothing would be happening in the US.
imho strip everything out and only put back what is necessary after thinking through the design issues from a complete point of view. Anything else is just politics and grift and cack-handed ignorance. People may disagree but I find this approach blunt but effective. It doesn’t leave much room for faffing about or forcing issues by stealth from the wrong starting point.
Complacency.
Well Google can now really thank themselves for spending billions on Android developement without direct profit prospects. It was probably the priciest insurance policy in the history of humankind but was worth it.
Android was always pretty forward about being part of the Google data collection apparatus. That is kind of its selling point, and I don’t think anyone seriously thought it wasn’t.
Google will be fine, they are making billions in profit every year. Android has always been an “iOS stopper” from day 1, stopping iOS from reaching 80+% marketshare in phones (which, if it happens, would give Apple the ability to raise their Google Search inclusion fees substantially). Any money Android makes on the side is an extra.
Google is not a stranger to this idea, using Firefox as an “Internet Explorer stopper” without making a penny from it for years. And they still use Firefox as a Microsoft Edge stopper secondary to Chrome and pay for the privilege to this day.
My point is: Android will operate Android at a loss if needed. Stopping iOS is enough for Android to justify its existence.