TECH - Google Faces Regulatory Scrutiny As UK Watchdog Questions Privacy Measures | Benzinga
Regulatory scrutiny intensifies as the U.K.’s privacy watchdog raises alarms over Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) and its latest digital privacy initiative.
What Happened: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has voiced concerns that the tech giant’s Privacy Sandbox may not adequately protect consumer privacy, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The ICO’s preliminary findings indicate the technology could potentially allow for the identification of users who are meant to remain anonymous.
Google is working on the Privacy Sandbox as a means to phase out third-party cookies and reduce tracking across websites and apps, while still offering free access to content. Despite these aims, the ICO has pinpointed possible privacy shortcomings within the new framework.
The company has set a target to fully remove third-party cookies by the latter half of 2024. This plan has caught the eye of the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is concerned about the potential negative impact on competition within the digital advertising sector.
The ...