Google is a company that makes a vast amount of money from advertising. Apple makes its money by selling hardware, software, and services. So it makes sense that if one of these companies was going to take a stand against data tracking, it’d be Apple – the company has long used privacy as a selling point for its products.

But with Apple getting ready to roll out updates to iOS and iPadOS that will require apps to explicitly ask for user permission before tracking your behavior across apps and websites, Google is apparently feeling some pressure to make a similar move, because Bloomberg says the company is exploring making similar moves.

It’s not a done deal yet, and if and when Google’s new privacy features arrive they’re likely to be less comprehensive than Apple’s because not only would the company risk alienating app developers, but it could see its own revenues fall.

But Google seems convinced that it’s possible to balance privacy and advertising – the company has also announced plans to phase out support for 3rd-party cookies in the Chrome web browser over the next few years, which will either lead to less tracking or give Google more power over how you’re tracked, depending on how cynical you want to be about the move.

Keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter and Facebook.

You can also find the latest news about open source phones by following our sister site Linux Smartphones on Facebook and Twitter.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 16,216 other subscribers

5 replies on “Lilbits: Is Google getting serious about privacy?”

  1. Yeah, keeping the data between you and google is more profitable than letting facebook have access to it.

  2. Was this planned since 1990 that privacy serious would happen only after China crackdown on their monopolies, invitations for DNA collection/analysis after covid let gone wild, and and boosting their privacy law as well? Why are things this way? Why cant the right thing be done from the get-go? Who profits from such chaos? Google just isnt a penniless new kid on the block.

    1. Do you use the Google search engine?
      Do you use Chrome?
      Do you watch YouTube?
      Do you use a phone with Android?
      Do you use Google maps for navigation?
      Do you freely visit (the vast majority of) websites?

      How much do you pay for any of these?

      That’s why.

      1. Agreed 100%. By using a service that doesn’t cost money, you are openly welcoming this kind of business practice.

        I remember the day it started.

        “Try out that new Gmail service, they give you 1gb of data. It doesn’t cost anything, they just show you ads based on your emails”

        “Well I don’t have anything to hide”.

      2. They want you pay for using Youtube (with time there is so much advertising and interrupts in Youtube it is a nightmare). Do you THINK it will respet privacy if you pay that service? Really?

        And don’t be wrong: one thing is to get returns from simple and fair or legitimate advertising, and other thing is to invade all your privacy.

        They can do air or legitimate advertising without invading your privacy, but industry want/need more profit.

Comments are closed.