Fingerprinting

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In computer science, fingerprinting is a procedure that maps an arbitrarily large data item (such as a computer file) to a much shorter bit string, its fingerprint, that uniquely identifies the original data for all practical purposes just as human fingerprints uniquely entify people for practical purposes.

How it works

Fingerprinting works by getting a data item and turning it into a much shorter bit string that uniquely identifies itself. This includes the operating system, device model, screen resolution and more.

Why it is a problem

Fingerprinting can be used to identify individuals, flagging privacy concerns and letting companies do things like targeted advertising, selling personal data and more.

Examples

Some examples of fingerprinting include some types of cookies,