User tracking has been taken to another level. Vodafone, one of the largest telecommunications corporations in the world, is introducing a new advertising ID system, which is currently being tested in Germany together with Deutsche Telekom.
TrustPid System Introduces Persistent User Tracking and Customer ID
Called TrustPid, the system is offering persistent user tracking at the mobile ISP (Internet Service Provider) level, and will be impossible to circumvent even within browser settings, via cookie blocking or IP address masking.
This will be accomplished by assigning a fixed customer ID and linking it with all customer activity. The ID will consist of several parameters in a way that the system will sustain persistence. This type of persistent tracking inevitably raises many questions regarding privacy, and will meet opposition from privacy advocates.
Why Did Vodafone Come Up with TrustPid?
At first glance, the reasoning behind Vodafone’s project is quite simple – to keep the internet “free” by providing “a sustainable revenue model” to publishers and advertisers:
Consumers appreciate the idea of a ‘free’ Internet, but this comes with a trade-off: publishers need a sustainable revenue model, meaning that it becomes essential to add subscription paywalls or rely on advertising to maintain free access to high quality content, Vodafone said.
For instance, Apple is one of the tech giants that blocks default tracking (via the so-called App Tracking Transparency implemented in iOS 14.5 last April), which directly affected Facebook’s business model. Google is also planning to terminate third-party cookies in Chrome by 2023. https://www.cookiebot.com/en/google-third-party-cookies/
To answer these privacy-centric changes, Vodafone came up with TrustPid, which the company describes as “a secure, unique digital token” that provides personalized ad experience with the consent of consumers. The assignment of random numbers to each consumer decreases the risk of being directly identified, the company claims.
Privacy advocates and data protectionists are worried by the advertising ID, seeing problems in the fact that consumers’ personal data will be stored on external servers rather than their own devices.
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum since the project started. A professional with 10+ years of experience in creating engaging content. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles! Follow Milena @Milenyim
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