Google recently made a controversial decision: as of February 16, advertisers are once again allowed to track users through fingerprinting, a tracking method that was banned in 2019.
Fingerprinting collects data such as IP addresses, operating system details, and screen resolution to create unique user profiles without explicit user consent.
This enables advertisers to target users more effectively, increasing Google’s advertising revenue.
The UK’s privacy watchdog, ICO, has called the decision “irresponsible,” emphasizing that fingerprinting undermines user privacy.
The policy change was quietly announced just before Christmas, which critics see as an attempt to avoid backlash.
Google claims to implement privacy-preserving technologies but deliberately avoids using the term “fingerprinting” in its documentation.Regulators, including the EU, are expected to take further action against this policy shift.
