What is Device Fingerprint?
Device fingerprinting is a process used to identify a device or browser by determining which technology, such as the Operating System (OS) and browser plugins along with other active settings, are present. Unlike website cookies that are stored on a user’s device, device fingerprints are stored server-side.
Device fingerprinting is used to track users and determine if they are unique or a known visitor. This method gives webmasters an important insight into who is visiting their site but comes at the cost of user privacy.
How Does Device Fingerprinting Work?
When a user visits a website, a device fingerprint tracker – usually a piece of JavaScript – collects all relevant information about their device, f.ex. their browser version, operation system, language settings, and the device’s IP address fingerprint.
What is Device Fingerprinting Used For?
Because device fingerprinting doesn’t provide reliable data, companies treat it as a backup method of tracking when cookies cannot be used.
It is mostly used for advertising and marketing purposes to target specific audiences.
Talk to our team of cyber-security experts today to discover more about our pioneering approach to bot management to help you detect unwanted bot activity and defend against it.
See also:
Empower your business with control over bot traffic and the ability to detect bots and block malicious traffic in real-time.