Google added encryption to a core advertising product intended to secure an advertiser's customer information during a time when more data is being used to serve personalized ads.

The technology, turned on by default, also ensures transparency into a product’s code and the ability to receive proof -- known as “attestation” -- that data is processed as intended.

It is the first time the technology -- which Google calls confidential computing -- has been used in Google's advertising products, but the company plans to bring it to more products over time.

TEEs -- an abbreviation for Trusted Execution Environments, a secure area of a processor that protects data and code from threats to confidentiality and integrity -- are a key component of Confidential Computing, and a way to improve data security. Other industries use this today.

Industries that want to protect data such as passwords and credit card numbers use TEEs frequently. For example, Confidential Space — part of Google Cloud’s confidential computing portfolio — is used by MonetaGo for secure financial fraud detection.

In other applications, it enables privacy-preserving data sharing between businesses because of its unique security properties.

Google said it uses the technology as the foundation in Ads for confidential matching, which isolates business data during processing and safeguards sensitive information such as customer identities. 

"In line with our privacy principles, we’re committed to making confidential computing and other complementary technologies accessible to everyone," Kamal Janardhan, senior director of product management, measurement at Google, wrote in a blog post.

Janardhan wrote that confidential matching will become available at no cost to customers. It is the default for Customer Match in Google Ads. Google also will share its TEE architecture along with a few open source examples to help others build confidential solutions, as it works along with the advertising industry to support privacy. 

Google plans to roll out encryption support in confidential matching globally, with plans to expand use across more advertising solutions.

For example, in the next few months, enhanced conversions implemented with the Google tag will start rolling out first-party data processed with confidential matching.

Processing will happen behind the scenes, without changing how advertisers measure conversions or manage Google tags.