Google to lift fingerprinting restrictions amid privacy concerns

In a major coverage change introduced on December 18, 2024, Google will permit advertisers to use device fingerprinting techniques starting February 16, 2025, prompting fast criticism from privateness regulators. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office labeled the decision “irresponsible” in its official response launched December 19.

In line with Google’s platform program policies announcement, the corporate will modify its promoting insurance policies to permit the usage of Web Protocol (IP) addresses and machine fingerprinting, notably for Linked TV (CTV) promoting. System fingerprinting entails gathering items of details about a tool’s software program or {hardware} which, when mixed, can uniquely determine particular units and customers.

The ICO’s government director of regulatory danger, Stephen Almond, acknowledged that companies would not have unrestricted permission to implement fingerprinting methods. “Like all promoting expertise, it have to be lawfully and transparently deployed – and if it’s not, the ICO will act,” Almond emphasised within the official assertion.

Google justified the coverage shift citing two main adjustments within the promoting panorama. First, the development of privacy-enhancing applied sciences (PETs), together with on-device processing, trusted execution environments, and safe multi-party computation. Second, the emergence of recent promoting platforms, notably Linked TV, which Google describes as one of many fastest-growing promoting channels.

The technical implementation will incorporate confidential computing inside Google’s promoting merchandise. This method goals to allow companies to make the most of first-party information with out re-identifying customers, marking a departure from conventional IP handle concentrating on strategies.

The ICO highlighted particular technical issues relating to consumer management. Privateness controls constructed round current applied sciences permit customers to handle cookies by means of consent banners or browser settings. Nevertheless, fingerprinting depends on alerts that customers can not simply get rid of. Even when customers choose “clear all website information” of their browsers, organizations using fingerprinting methods can instantly re-identify them.

The timing of this announcement has drawn scrutiny from competitors specialists. Thomas Höppner, a contest lawyer and DMA litigator, identified that this transfer contradicts Google’s earlier privateness protection in pending instances. “When Google introduced this week that it might permit fingerprinting from February 2025, it additional confirmed that its ‘privateness defence’ in pending instances is a pretext,” Höppner stated on social media.

Trade skilled Ari Paparo famous the enterprise implications, notably within the Linked TV area the place Google presently trails opponents. “Their enterprise severely lags the competitors (who all use IP), so that is a gap for them,” Paparo commented.

The ICO introduced plans to publish draft steerage on how information safety regulation, together with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), applies to storage and entry applied sciences resembling fingerprinting.

Organizations implementing fingerprinting methods should show compliance with information safety necessities, together with offering transparency to customers, securing freely-given consent, making certain honest processing, and upholding data rights resembling the proper to erasure. Primarily based on present understanding of fingerprinting methods, the ICO indicated this represents a excessive compliance threshold.

Google maintains that its core privateness ideas stay unchanged, stating customers will retain selection over customized ads. The corporate plans to companion with the broader promoting trade to make privacy-enhancing applied sciences extra accessible, although particular particulars of those partnerships stay unclear.

The implementation timeline provides advertisers and expertise suppliers roughly two months to organize for these adjustments, which is able to have an effect on varied promoting surfaces, together with Linked TVs and gaming consoles, reflecting the increasing scope of digital promoting past conventional internet browsers.