“And this is exactly why Google wants to use digital fingerprinting: It is way more powerful than cookie-based tracking, and it can’t be blocked for instance by switching to a privacy-first browser.”
If I use Firefox and Firefox doesn’t send any fingerprint to the website, then how is it identifying me?
I get that if you use Android (which is normally tied to Google), you’re still subject to see it on Google websites, but how will it work otherwise?
Basically you send your user agent, browser and OS configuration like screen resolution, your primary system language, timezone, installed plugins and so forth as you browse the internet. Not so easy to block. In fact, avoiding fingerprinting 100% is almost impossible, because there are so many configurations. It is hard not be somewhat unique. Still there are ways to minimize the identifying information. Using Firefox, this is what you might want to read: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/resist-fingerprinting. Note, though, that even there it says that such techniques can “help prevent websites from uniquely identifying you”, not prevent it entirely.
Like, why not? The article says:
If I use Firefox and Firefox doesn’t send any fingerprint to the website, then how is it identifying me?
I get that if you use Android (which is normally tied to Google), you’re still subject to see it on Google websites, but how will it work otherwise?
This website explains it: https://pixelprivacy.com/resources/browser-fingerprinting/
Basically you send your user agent, browser and OS configuration like screen resolution, your primary system language, timezone, installed plugins and so forth as you browse the internet. Not so easy to block. In fact, avoiding fingerprinting 100% is almost impossible, because there are so many configurations. It is hard not be somewhat unique. Still there are ways to minimize the identifying information. Using Firefox, this is what you might want to read: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/resist-fingerprinting. Note, though, that even there it says that such techniques can “help prevent websites from uniquely identifying you”, not prevent it entirely.