After Apple rolled out its app transparency feature with iOS 14.5, Google is now working on making it difficult for apps to track Android users. Google will soon allow Android users to opt out if they do not wish to be tracked by advertisers via smartphones. Google has officially announced the new tracking change on its support page.
The page reads, "As part of the Google Play services update in late 2021, the advertising ID will be removed when a user opts out of personalisation using advertising ID in Android settings. Any attempts to access the identifier will receive a string of zeros instead of the identifier. To help developers and ad/analytics service providers with compliance efforts, and respect user choice, they will be able to receive notifications for opt-out preferences."
These advertisers track users to show personalised ads. The developers will no longer have access to "Advertising IDs", starting this year, reports Financial Times. Instead of the ID, they will see "a string of zeros". This will give users more control over smartphone tracking.
Google has reportedly also announced the change in an email to Play Store developers.
For the uninitiated, Apple rolled out a new feature with iOS 14.5 that allows users to choose which apps can track their user data across other apps or websites owned by different companies. Notably, unlike Apple, users have to manually opt out of the process to stop Android apps from tracking their data.
source https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/google-will-soon-allow-android-users-to-opt-out-of-tracking-if-they-want-9683811.html
