Google is bringing back a contentious approach to monitoring user activity on the internet, referred to as “digital fingerprinting,” in a bid to improve its advertising capabilities. This technique gathers extensive data, including IP addresses and intricate browser details, to uniquely recognize users or devices. This decision represents a notable change in Google’s strategy regarding user privacy and data gathering.
The firm’s revised [platform program policies](https://support.google.com/platformspolicy/answer/15610408#022025) ease restrictions on advertisers, allowing for more tailored ad targeting across various devices. Google cites progress in privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), such as on-device processing and trusted execution environments, claiming these advancements ensure strong protections for users. The feature is scheduled to launch for advertisers on February 16, 2025.
Although Google has consistently branded itself as a protector of user privacy and choice, this shift in policy has sparked apprehensions. The company contends that PETs offer adequate safeguards for users while empowering brands to handle and use data securely. “With innovations like PETs to reduce risks, we believe there’s an opportunity to establish a high standard for privacy concerning data like IP,” Google remarked. “This can be achieved by implementing privacy-preserving measures that assist businesses in reaching their customers across these new platforms without needing to re-identify them.”
This declaration comes on the heels of Google’s previous decision to postpone the discontinuation of third-party cookies, opting to roll out personalized privacy controls via its Privacy Sandbox initiative instead. In contrast to cookies, digital fingerprinting is significantly more challenging for users to detect, block, or erase, rendering it a notably invasive method of data gathering.
The change in policy has faced strong backlash from privacy advocates and regulators. On December 19, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) criticized Google’s embrace of digital fingerprinting, labeling it an “irresponsible” practice that diminishes user choice and control over personal data. The ICO cautioned that this new direction could foster riskier behavior among advertisers and lessen transparency in how user data is gathered and utilized.
“Google itself has previously indicated that fingerprinting does not align with users’ privacy expectations, as users cannot easily consent to it in the same way they would with cookies,” stated Stephen Almond, the ICO’s executive director of regulatory risk. “To echo Google’s own stance on fingerprinting from 2019: ‘We think this subverts user choice and is wrong.'”
The ICO has urged Google to ensure that its new tracking techniques adhere to legal standards, including securing freely given consent, guaranteeing fair data processing, and respecting users’ rights to erasure. The regulator warned businesses not to view fingerprinting as a straightforward solution to the disappearance of third-party cookies, emphasizing that it will intervene if Google doesn’t fulfill these obligations.
As Google seeks to strike a balance between privacy and advertising innovation, its latest action has ignited a wider discussion about the ethics and consequences of digital fingerprinting in the changing online landscape.