Summary
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has raised 79 concerns about Google's Privacy Sandbox, up from 39 in January. These include suspicions about Google's continued dominance in the ad industry and governance issues. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has also highlighted privacy concerns. Google has extended the deadline for the third time to address these issues.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has expressed a growing list of concerns about Google's Privacy Sandbox, which aims to replace third-party cookies. Key concerns include:
- Anti-competitive issues: The CMA is worried that the Privacy Sandbox could maintain Google's dominance in the advertising industry.
- Governance: Questions arise about who will oversee the operation of the Privacy Sandbox once it's implemented.
- Privacy: There are gaps in the Privacy Sandbox that could compromise user privacy and fail to keep users anonymous.
The CMA's latest report outlines over 79 concerns, a significant increase from the 39 listed in its January update, indicating that the issues are expanding rather than being resolved.
The involvement of the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has added a new dimension to the CMA's assessment of Google's Privacy Sandbox. The ICO's views on the privacy protections of the sandbox, or the perceived lack thereof, have informed additional concerns raised by the CMA. Both regulators are now jointly highlighting potential privacy issues and the risk of user anonymity being compromised within the sandbox. This collaboration indicates a united front from UK regulators, emphasizing the seriousness of the privacy and competitive concerns surrounding the Privacy Sandbox.
Google has proposed several steps to address the concerns raised by the CMA about the Privacy Sandbox, including:
- Providing view and click information to buyers: This could help optimize programmatic auctions in the Chrome browser.
- Implementing Trusted Execution Environments: This could reduce suspicions by not limiting control to just Google and Amazon.
- Facilitating the building of interest groups for Topics: This would be a departure from current practices and could address some concerns.
However, these steps are still considered to be in the early stages and do not fully address the broader issues such as preserving Google’s top seller status in ad auctions and the overall beneficial impact on the ad industry.
Google has decided to extend the deadline for phasing out third-party cookies for the third time due to the extensive range of concerns raised by the CMA, which indicate a lack of progress in addressing them. These concerns span from governance issues to potential advantages given to YouTube, and the complexity of the issues suggests that more time is needed to resolve them. The new deadline aims to say goodbye to third-party cookies by early 2025, but the growing list of unresolved issues and the history of repeated extensions suggest that further delays could be anticipated.
To alleviate the CMA's concerns, Google could make key changes to the Privacy Sandbox, particularly to the Protected Audiences API. Other suggested changes include:
- Improving governance and oversight: Ensuring there is a clear and fair system for managing the Privacy Sandbox.
- Enhancing privacy protections: Addressing the gaps that could compromise user privacy and ensuring anonymity.
- Ensuring competitive fairness: Making sure that the sandbox does not unfairly benefit Google at the expense of competitors.
These changes would address fundamental issues raised by the CMA and the ad industry, potentially leading to a more acceptable solution for all parties involved.
