What is Fingerprint?
Device Fingerprint
It is a unique digital identity created through the user's device settings and browser characteristics.
Overview
A device fingerprint is the combination of technical data collected to identify a user or hardware online without the need for cookies. It is calculated by bringing together dozens of parameters such as screen resolution, installed fonts, hardware architecture, and browser extensions. Even if cookies are deleted or incognito mode is used, these parameters do not change, ensuring detection with high accuracy.
How it works
The visited web page runs a JavaScript script in the background. This script queries details such as graphics rendering performance (Canvas API), sound card responses, and the system time zone. All of this collected data is passed through a mathematical hashing function and converted into a single identity code.
Where it is used
It is used in fraud detection for banking applications, preventing bot attacks, and in user tracking processes for advertising networks.
Commonly confused with
It is confused with an IP address; while an IP address changes when you restart your modem or turn on a VPN, a device fingerprint remains largely constant as long as you use the same hardware.
Questions and answers
Does using incognito mode prevent fingerprint tracking?
No; incognito mode only does not save browsing history and cookies, but it cannot change your hardware and screen characteristics.
Is the creation of device fingerprints legal?
It is considered legal for security and fraud prevention purposes; however, when used for advertising tracking, it requires explicit consent under privacy laws such as the GDPR.
Related terms
This explanation was written in plain language for TreScout with AI and machine-translated from the Turkish original · the Turkish version prevails. If something looks wrong or missing, write to hello@trescout.com. Read in Turkish →