What Is Fingerprinting?

Fingerprinting is a tracking method that identifies a device or browser using a combination of characteristics, screen size, installed fonts, browser version, time zone, that together form a unique or near-unique signature, without relying on a cookie or any data the visitor explicitly provided.

Fingerprinting is a workaround for the same problem Cookieless Tracking solves legitimately, but it does so by re-identifying individuals covertly, which most regulations, including GDPR and CCPA, treat as tracking regardless of whether a cookie was used. It’s worth checking for specifically because it can hide inside a tool marketed as ‘cookieless’: the absence of a cookie doesn’t mean the absence of tracking, and a fingerprinting fallback can defeat the purpose of an otherwise well-configured CMP.