Google OKs Controversial Tracking Technique

Google is to allow advertisers to use a controversial tactic for tracking Chrome users online. It had previously described the 'fingerprinting' technique as "wrong".

The idea of fingerprinting is to identify an individual user even if they don't have the ability or permission to install a cookie on a user's computer. It's a way to more accurately identify somebody without relying solely on an IP address, which may be shared between multiple users or even change between different online sessions.

Fingerprinting adds in specific pieces of data which individually don't reveal much about the user and often have perfectly legitimate uses. For example, a web browser will tell a website what screen resolution the user is running, which can help the site automatically adjust its presentation of text and images to better fit the screen.

Jigsaw Identification

Some browsers will also provide other information such as the language of the operating system, the specific version of the browser, the user's time zone, and the list of add-on tools or extensions they are running.

While each of these isn't enough to identify somebody, the combination of these and other factors can be unique. That means advertisers and tech companies can spot the pattern when they visit different websites and learn more about their tastes and interests, as well as inferring demographic information.

This leads to more targeted advertising.

Google Claims Responsibility

Now Google says it's changing its policies to allow fingerprinting because of "advances in privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) such as on-device processing, trusted execution environments, and secure multi-party computation." (Source: google.com)

It appears Google itself will use the technique to deliver more precisely targeted ads even when users have disabled tracking cookies. However, it says "We continue to give users choice whether to receive personalized ads, and will work across the industry to encourage responsible data use." (Source: bbc.co.uk)

Online privacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation said the change showed Google's "ongoing prioritization of profits over privacy."

What's Your Opinion?

Do you consider fingerprinting a reasonable activity by tech firms and advertisers? Is Google right to make this change? Will it affect your choice of browser and online activity?