Google Reveals Latest Ploy to Track Users’ Data
By Movieguide® Contributor
Google will start using digital fingerprint identification to track its users for the sake of advertising. Here’s what you need to know about how this change impacts your privacy.
“Google is tracking your online behavior in the name of advertising, reintroducing a data collection process that ingests all of your online signals (from IP address to complex browser information) and pinpoints unique users or devices, also known as ‘digital fingerprinting,'” Mashable reported.
The data gathered will enable Google to “uniquely identify a particular device and user,” the UK’s Information Regulator explained, adding “that fingerprinting 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. The change to Google’s policy means that fingerprinting could now replace the functions of third-party cookies.”
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But more than just changing how your data is used, the change sees Google walk back its previous privacy standards. The company condemned fingerprint tracking back in 2019, stating it “subverts user choice and is wrong.”
The problem with digital fingerprint tracking is the lack of choice in how people’s information is obtained. The executive director of regulatory risk at the UK Information Commissioner’s Office Stephen Almond explained that fingerprint tracking “is not transparent and cannot easily be controlled” and that “fingerprinting does not meet users’ expectations for privacy.”
Ironically, Google claims that this will actually bring more security, suggesting that “advances in privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) such as on-device processing, trusted execution environments, and secure multi-party computation, are unlocking new ways for brands to manage and activate their data safely and securely.”
Beginning on Feb. 16, 2025, the cross-platform, cross-device tracking will roll out.
“Google will be less strict about targeting ads, including on platforms beyond Chrome, like smart TVs. With fingerprinting now replacing third-party cookies, your personal data could be tracked across various devices without your knowledge,” TechGig warned.
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