According to security researchers, Fingerprinting – a next-generation tracking technology – is on the rise.
About:
Fingerprinting involves looking at the many characteristics of a mobile device or computer – like the screen resolution, operating system and model – and triangulating this information to pinpoint and follow users as they browse the web and use apps.
Once enough device characteristics are known the data can be assembled to create users profile that helps identify the user the way a fingerprint would.
The technique happens invisibly in the background in apps and on websites.
Present status: According to Mozilla, about 3.5% of the most popular websites use it today for tracking, an increase from about 1.6% in 2016.
Blocking solutions: For those who use iPhones and Macs, Apple introduced a fingerprinting defence mechanism in its Safari browser last year. Mozilla introduced fingerprint blocking in its Firefox browser this year.
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