One of the most common questions we get from clients at FLYDE is:
Can we identify anonymous visitors using fingerprinting, and do we need consent for that?
It is an important question. As customer data strategies become more sophisticated, marketing teams are looking for ways to understand user behavior earlier in the journey. In many marketing platforms, anonymous website visits are siloed from the rest of the customer journey. Let’s imagine an anonymous user clicks a campaign, visits a few pages, and then returns to your site several times. The portion of the customer journey before the user identifies themself is lost. That’s where navigation fingerprinting comes in.
FROM THIRD-PARTY COOKIES TO FINGERPRINTING
For years, marketers relied on third-party cookies to track users across websites. These cookies powered everything from ad targeting to personalization and attribution. But browser updates and privacy regulations have changed the rules.
- Safari and Firefox began blocking third-party cookies by default
- Google Chrome is in the process of phasing them out
- Privacy regulations have tightened consent requirements
- Users are more aware and selective about how their data is tracked
As third-party cookies disappear, navigation fingerprinting has gained traction as an alternative. But it is not a free pass. Like cookies, fingerprinting is also subject to privacy regulation when used for marketing purposes.
WHAT IS NAVIGATION FINGERPRINTING?
Navigation fingerprinting, also known as browser fingerprinting or device fingerprinting, is a technique used to identify a device based on technical characteristics, without placing a cookie.
When someone visits a site, their browser reveals a combination of traits such as:
- Browser version and operating system
- Language, timezone, and screen resolution
- Installed plugins or font
- Device inputs (touch versus keyboard)
When combined, these signals form a kind of digital fingerprint. With the right setup, this fingerprint can be used to recognize a returning visitor, even if they are browsing anonymously.
WHY MARKETERS WANT TO USE IT
In theory, fingerprinting allows brands to:
- Track anonymous visitors across sessions
- Trigger personalized experiences earlier in the journey
- Detect fraud or suspicious activity
- Match anonymous behavior to user profiles once identification occurs
It is a powerful tool. For example, advertising platforms like Meta or Google only give aggregated insights for anonymous users. But with FLYDE’s browser tracking, you can tie an ad campaign to an individual user if they arrive on your site through a tagged UTM and later identify themselves (ie. by leaving an email) and give consent. This lets you link the user’s anonymous behavior to known user data, giving you a complete view of their journey, from top-of-funnel browsing to conversion.
HOW FLYDE SUPPORTS PERFORMANCE AND PRIVACY
At FLYDE, we believe privacy and performance can go hand in hand. We support fingerprinting and advanced browser tracking, but always within a responsible, user-centric framework.
Privacy is guaranteed on two levels:
- Cookie consent required: If you install the FLYDE tracking script through Google Tag Manager, tracking only activates once the user accepts your site’s cookie policy.
- Legal basis for identification: A person is only identified once they register or submit their email. At that point, they’ve accepted your legal terms for data processing.
This allows you to activate valuable data without compromising compliance.
FROM NAVIGATION TO INSIGHT
Once the user has consented, you can activate that data in meaningful ways:
- Segment audiences based on on-site behavior (e.g. pages viewed, time spent)
- Enrich campaigns with cross-channel tracking (e.g. email clicks, ad visits)
- Score leads in real-time using the Lead2Customer algorithm, which assigns a probability of conversion from 0 to 10 based on navigation and engagement patterns
You can trigger personalized flows, build predictive segments, and prioritize follow-up efforts with the confidence of having a full vision of their customer journey.
HOW FLYDE CAN HELP
Fingerprinting can help you better understand customer behavior, even at the earliest stage of the journey. FLYDE helps you make the most of every interaction, whether you’re tracking anonymous users across sessions, launching predictive models, or building smarter segments.
Contact us to schedule a meeting to discuss how a Customer Data Platform del Cliente (CDP) like FLYDE can unlock the full customer journey, starting with anonuymous web browsing.
Start taking control of your data today.
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