“Device fingerprinting, also known as browser fingerprinting, is the practice of collecting properties of PCs, smartphones, and tablets to identify and track users. For the vast majority of browsers, the combination of these properties is unique, and thus functions as a “fingerprint” that can be used to track users without relying on cookies. Researchers have discovered that 145 of the Internet’s 10,000 top Web sites use device fingerprinting to track users without their knowledge or consent. A new study by KU Leuven-iMinds researchers has uncovered that 145 of the Internet’s 10,000 top Web sites track users without their knowledge or consent. The Web sites use hidden scripts to extract a device fingerprint from users’ browsers. Device fingerprinting circumvents legal restrictions imposed on the use of cookies and ignores the Do Not Track HTTP header. The findings suggest that secret tracking is more widespread than previously thought… To detect Web sites using device fingerprinting technologies, the researchers developed a tool called FPDetective. The tool crawls and analyses Web sites for suspicious scripts. This tool will be freely available at FPDetective Web site for other researchers to use and build upon.”
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Web sites secretly track users without relying on cookies
