Google announced that starting August 3, 2026, it will begin using the IP addresses of users in the European Economic Area (EEA) , the United Kingdom , and Switzerland for ad measurement and personalization purposes.
Google already receives IP addresses through tags, SDKs , HTTP calls and uploads. This change concerns the purpose of using the addresses. Using them for ad personalization triggers consent obligations under GDPR and UK data protection law .
In the European Union and the United Kingdom, IP addresses are considered personal data. This means that using them to identify a device — even for advertising purposes — cannot be based on a “legitimate interest” but requires explicit consent from the user. Google will sign up to IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) Feature 3, which addresses device identification based on automatically transmitted information, including IP addresses. Feature 3 is not a consent step in itself, but is linked to personalization purposes that require explicit user approval.
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The company is introducing this change as part of a broader Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs). Specifically, it refers to technologies such as on-device processing, trusted execution environments , and secure multi-party computation. Some personalization features will not be available immediately, but are expected to be enabled later in 2026 or early 2027, at which time Google will allow users to make a choice about personalization based on IP address.
IP addresses, fingerprinting and Google's stance
Using IP addresses to identify a device is a key building block of fingerprinting — a tracking technique that works even when cookies are blocked or deleted. In 2019 , Chrome ’s then-engineering director , Justin Schuh , said that fingerprinting undermines user choice and is problematic precisely because it cannot be “cleaned” like cookies. However, in December 2024 , Google reversed this position, removing the ban on fingerprinting for advertisers — a move that the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) called “irresponsible.”
The timing of the announcement is particularly important. On 18 May 2026, the ICO published advice to the UK on changes to the consent rules for online advertising. The ICO would allow some advertising without consent based only on the content the user is currently viewing — not on their activity history. Personalisation based on IP address falls into the category of requiring explicit consent, as it allows for cross-site and cross-device tracking when combined with other signals.
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It is worth noting that Google 's current developer documentation explicitly states that Google Ads does not support IP address attribution for end users in the EEA , the UK , and Switzerland , and instructs developers to opt out of IP sharing for users in these regions. The planned change on August 3, 2026 will substantially modify this policy.
What this means for advertisers and users
Google is largely shifting the onus of compliance to advertisers, reminding them that they must obtain valid consent from users in affected regions in accordance with the EU User Consent Policy . The user choice regarding personalization based on IP address will not be available immediately, but will be enabled at a later stage of the implementation. Until then, users can reject unnecessary cookies and consent prompts, as well as control their ads personalization settings via myadcenter.google.com.
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For businesses using Google Ads , Google Tags or related measurement tools, it is immediately recommended to: review consent flows for users in the EEA , the UK and Switzerland , review data transmission paths where IP addresses are shared with Google , update privacy policies and Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) to accurately describe the use of IP for ad personalization, and monitor guidance from the ICO and EU regulators as the issue remains under review.
As BleepingComputer reports, the compatibility of this app with the ICO — which requires consent for cross-service profiling — remains an open question. Google is walking a fine line between technological innovation and regulatory compliance, and the reaction of European regulators in the coming months will largely determine the future of IP-based ad personalization in Europe.
