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Last Update: 10/27/2026 at 6:00 AM EST
Online Tracking and Fingerprinting
Coverage from AdExchanger, Brave, and others
Digital fingerprinting combines details such as browser and operating-system settings, screen properties, and IP addresses to distinguish devices or link activity, sometimes without relying on cookies.
These techniques are used in advertising and measurement, while platforms and browser makers have adopted policies and technical measures to limit tracking. The debate concerns how users can understand or control these practices, whether fingerprinting can be used transparently and lawfully, and how regulators such as the UK Information Commissioner’s Office should enforce privacy rules.
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10/09/2026
The story now includes Ireland’s €403 million GDPR fine against Google for historical location-data processing, a separate enforcement issue that broadens the privacy context without directly concerning fingerprinting.
All Articles18 articles
Important
On Feb 16, 2020s, Google allowed ad-tech fingerprinting in its platform policies, drawing praise from industry groups and criticism from the UK ICO.
1/13/2025 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Brave rejects dynamic privacy budgets as ineffective against browser fingerprinting in the current web privacy landscape.
11/6/2019 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Apple in 2024 required iOS developers to declare reasons for fingerprint-capable APIs, while researchers reported alleged off-device data use by Google Chrome and other major apps.
5/7/2024 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Mozilla Firefox rolls out second phase fingerprinting protections to reduce cross site tracking in the browser.
11/10/2025 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Web users worldwide are tracked by browser fingerprinting across sites and sessions.
10/16/2025 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Google updates Chrome privacy plans in 2024 to 2025, while the UK ICO cautions that digital fingerprinting for ad targeting requires lawful, transparent deployment.
2/19/2025 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Companies use browser fingerprinting to identify users across sites; regulators and browsers respond with increased privacy measures.
5/31/2021 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Psylo launches on iOS and iPadOS in the US, using tab silos, anti-fingerprinting, and encrypted proxy routing to reduce browser-derived signals used for ad tracking.
6/24/2025 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Apple, Google, Mozilla and Microsoft have adopted policies and technical measures since 2019 to limit device fingerprinting across browsers and mobile platforms.
12/5/2022 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Graz University of Technology researchers and Liebherr-Transportation Systems collaborators disclosed FROST, an OPFS SSD timing technique for permissionless website and app fingerprinting.
6/10/2026 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
PCMag outlines how browser fingerprinting tracks web users without cookies and describes available tools and privacy-focused browsers that can reduce such tracking.
10/10/2025 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Google permits fingerprinting to track users across devices and websites, a recent move prompting regulatory scrutiny in the European Union and United Kingdom.
2/19/2025 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Google plans an August 3, 2026 update using IP addresses to identify devices for ad personalization in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland, triggering new consent compliance questions.
6/17/2026 • Consumer Privacy & Digital Rights • General
Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Google 403 million euros after investigating location-data processing under GDPR rules applied from May 2018 through February 2020.
9/21/2026 • Regulation, Law & Enforcement • General
Interesting
Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Google $463 million in Dublin after finding unlawful and nontransparent processing of users' location data under EU privacy law.
9/21/2026 • Regulation, Law & Enforcement • General
Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Google 403 million euros in Dublin on Monday for unlawful and insufficiently transparent processing of users' location data under the GDPR.
9/21/2026 • Regulation, Law & Enforcement • General
Security researchers reported in 2024 that phishing sites used browser fingerprinting via JavaScript to identify crawlers and bypass Google ad review and automated detection on the web.
4/5/2024 • Data Collection & Surveillance Practices • General
Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Google EUR 403 million over GDPR violations in its processing of web, app, and location data from 2018 to 2020, following an inquiry into complaints filed in 2020.
9/26/2026 • Regulation, Law & Enforcement • General