Following up on the issue with in-app browsers, we have to talk about the future of attribution. Cookies are going away, and there will be fewer ways to spot a returning user. A bulletproof way is simply a login, which is not always possible or wanted.
An alternative is fingerprinting.
Digital fingerprinting is how you can uniquely identify someone with a high probability. Unlike cookies, it uses information about a user's software environment. It can be device, OS or browser parameters. A collection of information allows to create a distinct profile, or "fingerprint." This fingerprint is difficult to alter or mask. So it can be used to recognize repeat users or devices with high probability. The key to understanding fingerprinting is that we can never be 100% sure, that we have the same user.
There are different approaches, but all gather data points from users’ devices.
Browser attributes: such as type, version, language, and plugins.
Device characteristics: including operating system, hardware configuration, screen resolution, and fonts.
Network information: like IP address and connection speed.
User behavior patterns: including typing speed and mouse movements.
These elements create a unique identifier for each user. These attributes are collected passively and require no user interaction. Which makes data collection easier from a technical standpoint.
Browser Fingerprinting: Identifies users based on data available through their web browsers.
Canvas Fingerprinting. Different devices may have slightly different ways to render graphics. It uses the HTML5 canvas element to generate text and visual elements.
Audio Fingerprinting. Analyzes the way a device processes audio to generate a unique identifier.
WebGL Fingerprinting. Captures details about a device graphics card through the WebGL JavaScript API.
This all sounds great but comes with a caveat. Fingerprinting can improve security and marketing attribution. But for the end user, it brings more privacy concerns. If all the data is collected passively from the device, there are fewer ways for the user to opt out of it. And this is where we see the industry moving.
Future legislation changes will regulate the we manage user consent and collect data. So the fingerprinting techniques will have to adapt as well.