Rumor: Fuchsia-OS causes tensions within Google due to focus on privacy

According to sources from the financial news agency Bloomberg, the development of the Fuchsia operating system, which should eventually replace Android, is causing tension within Google between its advertising, privacy and security departments.

Bloomberg bases its reporting on people who say they are familiar with developments within Google. According to one of these individuals, there has been at least one conflict between the two camps so far, because the development of the OS would go against Google’s business model. In the cited case, the ad camp would have won, the source said.

It is not entirely clear which privacy measures are involved. Bloomberg speaks of encrypted user keys that play a role in software updates. Also, Fuchsia would be better able to deal with frequent security updates. Bloomberg further points out that Nick Kralevich has been working on Fuchsia’s security since January on his LinkedIn page, after working as a security lead for Android for nine years.

The resources also share information about operating system scheduling. For example, within three years it must run on devices such as smart speakers. It should eventually replace Android within five years. However, no official roadmap has yet been drawn up and approved by CEO Sundar Pichai. He would have expressed his support internally for the project, on which about a hundred people would now be working. Finally, the system would be better suited than Android to support voice control of apps.

Until now, information about Fuchsia has been released sporadically, after the name first came out in 2016. At the beginning of this year, images appeared of the system running on a Pixelbook. Unlike Android, Fuchsia does not use the Linux kernel, but Zircon.

Update, 20-7: Google tells Cnet that there is no “five-year plan”.