Details about what Google is set to announce at I/O (which starts tomorrow), is starting to emerge. We, of course, knew there would be some big changes to Android 12 announced. But we’re starting to find out some of the smaller tidbits too. Like some new privacy controls. However, according to The Information who broke the info today, they won’t compete with Apple’s privacy controls. Which it rolled out with iOS 14.5.
According to this report, the changes will include making it easier for users to access settings menus to restrict the permissions of different apps. This includes access to things like the camera and location – perhaps two of the most important permissions on Android.
These changes will help users be more aware of what is being accessed by what apps, it still won’t be as effective as Apple’s recent privacy initiatives like App Tracking Transparency. Part of that is likely because it would drastically hurt Google to do that.
Google is working on tightening restrictions on the data advertisers are able to track
While we won’t be getting App Tracking Transparency on Android, Google is going to be tightening the restrictions on what data advertisers are able to track from users. Not quite on the same level of “Ask not to track”, but it is a step in the right direction.
Asking apps not to track you can really hurt Google. As it is after all, still a search and advertising giant. And without that information, it makes it harder for Google and its advertisers to better serve ads that you might be interested in. That’s likely the big reason why Google isn’t going all-in with do not track.
Though we’ll find out more about this tomorrow when the Google I/O keynote takes place. It’ll all start at 10AM PDT/1PM EDT.