Comment by Dylan16807
7 months ago
This sounds like a red herring to me.
If the only way to associate a user with their ID is by fingerprinting them, you can do the same thing without an ID with having shadow profiles. If the proof system is designed for privacy, the ID doesn't make you more trackable.
In other words, if the ID never directly leaks companies can just make up a static ID for you and get the same results.
Kind of. A fingerprint is an implicit ID, whereas the ID suggested by GP would be semi-permanently associated to an individual. So it would make tracking even easier, since most web sites outside of adtech don't bother with sophisticated fingerprinting. It would be similar to a tracking cookie, except the user would have no control over it.
> the ID suggested by GP would be semi-permanently associated to an individual
There is a permanent ID, but it doesn't have to be told to the site.
In which case it doesn't make tracking any easier than the site making up a "fake" ID for you.