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The Privacy Sandbox Beta is coming to Android

Feb 14, 2023

[[read-time]] min read

Anthony Chavez
VP, Privacy Sandbox at Google

Every day billions of people use mobile apps to stay informed, make decisions, be entertained, and much more. Digital advertising plays a key role in supporting the millions of developers who build and maintain these apps. And as people's reliance on apps has increased over time, so have their privacy expectations.

Last year, we announced the Privacy Sandbox on Android, an industry-wide initiative to raise the bar for user privacy and ensure continued access to free content and services. Building on our web efforts, we’re developing solutions for digital advertising that limit user data sharing and don't rely on cross-app identifiers.

Over the past year, we’ve worked closely with the industry to gather feedback and begin testing these new technologies. Today, we’re entering the next phase of this initiative, rolling out the first Beta for the Privacy Sandbox on Android to eligible devices. With the Beta, users and developers will be able to experience and evaluate these new solutions in the real world.

What this means for users

The Privacy Sandbox for Android Beta will roll out gradually, starting with a small percentage of Android 13 devices, and will expand over time. If your device is selected for the Beta, you’ll receive an Android notification letting you know.

The Privacy Sandbox Beta provides new APIs that are designed with privacy at the core, and don't use identifiers that can track your activity across apps and websites. Apps that choose to participate in the Beta can use these APIs to show you relevant ads and measure their effectiveness.

You’ll be able to control your Beta participation by going to the Privacy Sandbox section of Settings. From this screen you’ll be able to see and manage the interests that apps can use to show you relevant ads. For example, you could see that Android has estimated that you’re interested in topics like Movies or Outdoors, and you can block any topics if they don’t fit your interests. And if you change your mind about participating in the Beta, you can turn it off or back on in Settings.

Image featuring the Settings and Topics pages for the Privacy Sandbox Beta on Android

Collaborating with the industry

Our goal with the Privacy Sandbox is to enhance user privacy while providing businesses with the tools to succeed online. Blunt approaches that don’t provide viable alternatives harm app developers, and they don’t work for user privacy either, leading to less private ways of tracking users like device fingerprinting.

This is why we’re working with the Android ecosystem to build solutions that protect users and work for developers.

Since announcing the Privacy Sandbox on Android, hundreds of companies have shared their feedback on our design proposals and developer previews. This feedback has been invaluable in shaping the designs, and we welcome further participation from organizations across the industry.

  • “Safeguarding user privacy has long been a chief priority for Adjust. Therefore, we’re thrilled to be part of Google’s Privacy Sandbox for Android and excited to see Google move at this rapid pace to fortify data privacy in the ads space. As we enter this testing phase with Google, we’ll push for solutions that simultaneously strengthen user privacy and empower app marketers’ analytics capabilities. This collaboration with Google and other leaders in the industry is 100% a step in the right direction for privacy." - Katie Madding, Chief Product Officer, Adjust
  • “At AppsFlyer, we believe that privacy is an essential value, and, as such, have built all of our products with privacy at their core. We’ve been working closely with Android’s team to enhance the level of privacy throughout the ecosystem, while still providing robust solutions for marketing measurement. We are impressed with the strides and commitment Android has made as our partner for privacy-centric measurement in the short time since the Privacy Sandbox on Android was announced.” - Barak Witkowski, EVP Product AppsFlyer
  • “The Privacy Sandbox initiative is supporting a key ecosystem need - improving user privacy online - and as a company committed to enabling and building privacy-centric solutions, Branch appreciates the opportunity to closely collaborate with the Android team in early-stage testing. We are excited for the upcoming Privacy Sandbox Beta on Android, and look forward to continuing to work with the team.” - Alex Bauer, Head of Product & Market Strategy, Branch
  • “We are thrilled with Google’s open, collaborative and responsive approach to the Android Privacy Sandbox and are confident we can maintain a healthy app ecosystem while continuing to improve privacy." - Sergio Serra, Product head, InMobi Exchange.
  • "Responsibility sits at the heart of Rovio’s technology strategy. Thus we really appreciate Android working with the industry to raise the bar for privacy, while continuing to support a healthy app ecosystem." - Petri Hyökyranta, CTO of Rovio Entertainment
  • "Snap shares Google's mission to improve privacy across mobile, while continuing to foster a healthy app ecosystem. We're pleased with their progress and look forward to continuing to work with them on this initiative." - Snap Inc.
  • Unity is excited to collaborate with Android to take a leap into the next era of privacy centric digital marketing on mobile. Being able to navigate. Felix The, SVP Product & Engineering, Unity Ads the evolving landscape with Privacy Sandbox allows Unity to experiment and iterate on how to drive success for our customers, while at the same time keeping user data safe and secure. This aligns with our approach at Unity, as we are often the initial step in a game developer's journey to building their business. The Android team is being very thorough with regards to delivering solutions that meet industry use cases and providing valuable feedback as we move towards beta testing and beyond.
  • “Our team appreciates Android working with the industry to strengthen privacy while continuing to support a robust mobile ecosystem. Android has been swift to market to get solutions out for the industry to learn about and actively participate in the constructive dialog to gather feedback and improve the products. Looking forward to building the future of privacy together.” - Anh Nguyen, VP Growth, Wolt
  • "Improving privacy is essential to the future of both the web and mobile, but ecosystem shifts of this magnitude can't happen in a silo. As a longtime partner collaborating with Google on its Privacy Sandbox initiative, we're pleased to see so many companies come together in service of a shared goal. We look forward to continuing our work to test the Privacy Sandbox and hope more organizations across the industry will join this effort." - Masanaga Konishi - Head of Product Strategy, Display Advertising, Yahoo! Japan

Evolving digital advertising to enhance user privacy, by moving away from reliance on cross-app tracking, is vital for the future of a thriving mobile ecosystem. We’ll continue to work closely with developers, marketers, and regulators on this journey.

If you’re an ad technology provider, the Privacy Sandbox is ready for testing. If you’re an app developer who works with third parties for advertising-related services, ask your providers about their roadmap and how you can participate in testing the Privacy Sandbox. We’ve published developer guidance on how to participate in the Beta, and recommend following our Privacy Sandbox blog for regular updates.

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