Apple is currently pushing back against digital fingerprint technology with iOS 26, adding new privacy features in Safari to block Google’s silent tracking that can track iPhone users on browsers without their consent.
While many still wonder if their phones are secret spies, a more advanced – and invisible – way of monitoring is emerging in the process. Rather than tapping your mic, this process gathers insignificant points of data from your device to monitor your every step on the web.
Apple’s latest iOS update targets this exact problem and offers a way to fight back.
Can Google Track My iPhone Without Consent?
Sadly, yes.
With digital mobile device fingerprinting, websites can gather technical information, such as your iPhone model, browser version, and screen resolution.
Individually, these seem like unimportant pieces of information, but combined, they form a digital fingerprint that specifically identifies and follows the user.
Despite describing this kind of tracking “wrong”, and keeping it “undermines user choice,” the Chrome-parent is now reintroducing its Google digital fingerprinting once more, not just on browsers but also smart TVs, consoles, as well as other connected devices.
The tech giant says it demands a larger number of surfaces on which ads are served and claims to be using new privacy-protecting methods for holding on to user data securely. However, regulators aren’t convinced.
The UK’s data regulator warns that fingerprinting is ” not a fair way of tracking and is likely to reduce people’s choice and control over how their information is collected.”
As customers can’t erase it like cookies, so even if you “clear all site data,” your fingerprint remains. While the Big Tech giant is creating a wide range of Google activity examples of tracking cookies replacement with a “don’t track me” button like Apple’s App Tracking Transparency.
Meanwhile, fingerprinting is already adopted, and it’s now harder than ever to detect or block.
The Best Way to Protect Yourself from Browser Fingerprinting
Apple’s latest defense is an option titled “Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection on All Browsing Activity,” available under Safari preferences in “Advanced.”
Currently, it’s limited to Private Browsing, but will become automatically active in iOS 26.
When activated, this function makes digital fingerprint technology more difficult by transmitting fake signals from your device essentially digital noise that is intended to confuse the trackers and stop browser fingerprinting. It’s not foolproof, but it’s one of the most powerful tools iPhone users currently have at their disposal.
Be that as it may, this does not mean that they are not still being tracked in apps and on other platforms, but this helps prevent browser fingerprinting at the browser level. For more security, it is a plus to look into the best online privacy protection services which can offer additional protection beyond what Apple or browser settings can provide.
Nowadays, tracking is expanding from browser level into smart homes, wearables and other life essentials.
In the end, this is not a mere issue anymore, it’s an issue of control. Regulators and Apple are collaborating on establishing a more advanced field, but users are urged to stay informed and engaged in protecting their privacy in a world where digital fingerprint technology reigns supreme.
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