June 13, 2024 at 09:39AM
Privacy campaigner noyb has filed a GDPR complaint against Google’s Privacy Sandbox, claiming that turning on a “Privacy Feature” in Chrome led to unwanted tracking. The Privacy Sandbox API, introduced in 2023 by Google, was meant to replace third-party tracking cookies with browser-based tracking. However, noyb alleges that this results in unauthorized tracking by Google itself.
It appears that privacy campaigner noyb has filed a GDPR complaint against Google’s Privacy Sandbox, alleging that turning on a “Privacy Feature” in the Chrome browser led to undesired tracking by Google. The Privacy Sandbox API was aimed at eliminating third-party tracking cookies, offering a way for website developers to display ads matching user interests without relying on such cookies.
Google’s VP of the Privacy Sandbox initiative referred to this API as a significant step towards a more private web. However, noyb claims that despite being advertised as an improvement over third-party tracking, the tracking has not disappeared but is instead conducted by Google within the browser.
To comply with the rules, Google needs informed consent from users. Noyb asserts that Google introduced internal browser tracking to users via a pop-up that misleadingly appeared to offer a choice to turn on an “ad privacy feature” or decline. Despite the wording of the pop-up, selecting “turn on ad privacy feature” actually activates first-party tracking, not the expected protection from tracking.
Max Schrems of noyb accused Google of misleading its users and stated that consent must be informed, transparent, and fair to be legal. Google has argued that users clicking on “Turn it on” would be considered consent to tracking under Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR.
Google has yet to respond to noyb’s complaint filed with the Austrian data protection authority. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority also expressed concerns about privacy and competition related to Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, leading Google to postpone the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome to early 2025.
It’s evident that the launch of Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative has faced significant challenges and concerns regarding privacy and compliance with GDPR regulations.