Earlier this year, Google reversed one of its most significant privacy adjustments regarding how it enables advertisers to gather data about your online behavior. This information, commonly referred to as your digital fingerprint, essentially serves as a comprehensive source of advertising data that assists advertisers in crafting more precise ads for you.
When [Google ceased opposing digital fingerprinting](https://www.bgr.com/tech/google-is-giving-away-even-more-personal-data-in-exchange-for-profits/), it marked a complete turnaround from the company’s earlier position on the issue, which had been advocated by privacy authorities, as well as in legal actions and by Apple. Following its reintroduction to gather data about your digital fingerprint, Google has discreetly been amassing information from anyone using an iPhone or an Android device.
Apple implemented measures to help counteract this with the advanced tracking and fingerprinting protection feature in Safari. By default, this option is set to provide protection only when using Private Browsing, but Apple claims it will modify its approach to this feature in [iOS 26](https://www.bgr.com/guides/ios-26/) by offering protection for all browsing sessions by default when the update is released in September.
### What is advanced tracking and fingerprinting protection?
As stated in [Apple’s privacy notes](https://www.apple.com/privacy/features/), its fingerprinting defense feature operates by presenting a streamlined version of your system configuration to trackers — such as your device and browser settings, your IP, fonts, and plug-ins. This more straightforward configuration aims to make devices appear uniform to online trackers, which Apple asserts should “make it more difficult to single yours out.”
When activated, this prevents advertisers from tracking your data as easily, although you may still receive some targeted ads. This is because this setting does not completely halt the data collection about your device, but rather offers a simplified configuration for tracking systems. Furthermore, [if you utilize a browser other than Safari](https://www.bgr.com/tech/apple-gives-you-one-main-reason-to-use-safari-in-new-ad/), then this setting will have no effect whatsoever.
It’s also essential to highlight that since the Safari setting alters how the browser collects data, it may create issues with certain web pages and their loading processes. While I have never personally encountered this while using Safari, others have voiced their concerns regarding the warning messages that appear and how bothersome they can be. However, for an extra layer of privacy, it may be worth tolerating some of those inconveniences.
