Why Privacy Badger opts users out of Google's Privacy Sandbox

The latest update to Privacy Badger allows users to opt out of ad tracking through Google's Privacy Sandbox.

Privacy Sandbox is Google's way of allowing advertisers to target ads based on users' online behavior even after Chrome completes its phase-out of third-party cookies. Third-party cookies were once the most common online tracking technique, but other major browsers such as Safari and Firefox began blocking them a few years ago. Google promised to do the same in 2020. After several delays, Google finally began its phase-out this year. Notably, Google Chrome lags behind other browsers in terms of its default protections against online tracking.

The Privacy Sandbox may be less intrusive than third-party cookies, but that doesn't mean it's good for your privacy. Rather than eliminating online tracking, the Privacy Sandbox simply transfers control of online tracking from third-party trackers to Google. In the Privacy Sandbox, tracking is done by the Chrome browser itself, and insights gleaned from your browsing habits are shared with various websites and advertisers. While it sounds like a feature that protects your privacy, the Privacy Sandbox ultimately protects Google's advertising business.

How did Google get users to agree to this? In 2023, Chrome users received a popup about enhanced ad privacy in Chrome. In the US, you can get rid of the popup by clicking[了解]Despite clicking the button, Privacy Sandbox remained enabled by default, and users could opt out by changing three settings in Chrome. But first, they had to be aware that “enhanced ad privacy” actually enabled a new form of ad tracking.

You don't have to read between the lines of Google's privacy-deprecating rhetoric to protect your privacy – Privacy Badger does it for you.

3 Privacy Sandbox features that Privacy Badger disables

If you use Google Chrome, Privacy Badger updates three different settings that make up the Privacy Sandbox.

Ad Topics: This setting allows Google to generate a list of topics that you may be interested in based on the websites you visit. Sites you visit can ask Chrome what topics they think you might be interested in and display ads to you accordingly. Some of the potential topics, such as student loan and college financing, credit reporting and monitoring, and body and facial hair removal, could serve as proxies for sensitive financial or health information, enabling predatory ad targeting. To prevent advertisers from identifying you, topics are rolled over weekly, and Chrome includes a random topic 5% of the time. However, researchers have found that Privacy Sandbox topics can be used to re-identify users across websites. Using real-world browsing histories from 1,207 people, researchers showed that they could identify 60% of users across different websites by simply observing a person's ad topics three times.

Site-suggested ads: This setting enables “remarketing” or “retargeting,” which is why you often see ads for items you've just purchased online. It works by allowing sites you visit to provide information to your Chrome browser (such as, “this person likes couches”). Then, when you visit a site that features ads, Chrome can use that information to show you ads for couches without the site learning that you like couches. However, researchers have demonstrated that this feature of Privacy Sandbox can be abused to re-identify and track users across websites, partially infer a user's browsing history, and manipulate the ads the user sees on other sites.

Ad measurement: This setting allows advertisers to track the performance of their ads by storing data on your browser and sharing it with sites that advertise them. For example, after you see an ad for shoes, each time you visit that shoe site we'll get information about when the ad was displayed and where it was displayed. Unfortunately, Google allows advertisers to include a unique ID with this data, so if you interact with multiple ads from the same advertiser across the web, this ID can help the advertiser build a profile of your browsing habits.

Why does Privacy Badger remove users from the Privacy Sandbox?

Privacy Badger is committed to protecting users from online tracking. Despite being touted as a privacy feature, Privacy Sandbox protects Google's revenue at the expense of user privacy. Approximately 80% of Google's revenue comes from online advertising. By building ad tracking into the Chrome browser, Privacy Sandbox gives Google more control over the advertising ecosystem than ever before. Google is once again rewriting the rules of the Internet in a way that benefits itself first.

Researchers and regulators have already found that the Privacy Sandbox fails to achieve its privacy goals. In a draft report leaked to The Wall Street Journal, the UK privacy regulator noted that the Privacy Sandbox could be misused to identify anonymous users and that companies would likely use it to continue tracking users across sites. Similarly, after researchers told Google that they had launched 12 attacks against key features of the Privacy Sandbox before its public release, Google went ahead and released the feature after mitigating only one of those attacks.

The Privacy Sandbox offers some privacy improvements over Chrome's current use of third-party cookies. But it also strengthens Google's efforts against behavioral advertising, which it has long opposed. Behavioral advertising encourages online actors to collect as much information as possible, which can lead to a variety of harms, including allowing bad actors to purchase sensitive information or target vulnerable people with predatory advertising.

A browser shouldn't put advertisers' interests above yours. By turning your browser into an advertising agency, Google is putting your privacy first.

What you can do now

If you don't have Privacy Badger yet, install it now to automatically opt-out of Privacy Sandbox and the broader ecosystem of online tracking. Already have Privacy Badger? You're all set! And of course, feel free to spread the word to friends and family who you want to protect from intrusive online tracking. With your help, Privacy Badger will continue to fight to end online tracking and build a safer Internet for everyone.

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