ICO Says NO to Fingerprinting

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The ICO has stated that Fingerprinting is not a fair means of tracking.

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Google, however, announced to organisations that it will no longer prohibit them from employing fingerprinting techniques for advertising products from February 2025. This is concerning, as Fingerprinting relies on signals that a user cannot easily wipe. Even if users ‘clear all site data’, the organisation using fingerprinting techniques could immediately identify them again. This is not transparent and cannot easily be controlled. Moreover, Fingerprinting is harder for browsers to block and therefore even privacy-conscious users will find this difficult to stop.

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The ICO will engage with Google to discuss this turn of events closer to the New Year.

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What is Fingerprinting?

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Fingerprinting involves the collection of pieces of information about a device’s software or hardware, which, when combined, can uniquely identify a particular device and user.  It is not a fair means of tracking users online because it is likely to reduce people’s choice and control over how their information is collected.

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