Google’s Not-So-Private Sandbox

No doubt sensing the impending US privacy regulations, Google has released a plan to “enhance” user privacy… by finding different ways to track you. Instead of relying on cookies and fingerprinting, Google proposes that we just come out in the open and formalize tracking technologies. While that could give users more transparency and a modicum of control, the bottom line is that Google is really just trying desperately to save its business model (ads based on tracking). While there are actually some good ideas in their proposal, many of the technologies they’re putting forward could be even worse for your privacy than the current schemes. Today I’ll walk through the EFF’s excellent analysis of these propositions and give my own take. Further Info: EFF: Don’t Play in Google’s Privacy Sandbox: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/08/dont-play-googles-privacy-sandbox-1 EFF’s Panopticlick tool: https://panopticlick.eff.org/