China's AliExpress caught using an ‘audio fingerprint’ trick to track visitors
Retailer AliExpress has been accused of using an 'audio fingerprinting' technique to track website visitors. The method uses inaudible sound waves processed by web browsers to create unique user identifiers.
Why it matters
This highlights growing privacy concerns regarding sophisticated, non-cookie-based tracking methods used by major e-commerce platforms to monitor user behavior.
Chinese retailer AliExpress has been found using an “audio trick” that can fingerprint visitors by analysing sounds processed by their web browsers. The technique measures inaudible audio signals and was discovered by researcher Matthew Callaghan after visiting the AliExpress website repeatedly caused his phone audio to stop playing through his Bluetooth headphones.According to a report by Ars Technica, Callaghan said the problem occurred because his headphones support multipoint connections, allowing them to connect to his phone and PC at the same time. He had configured them to play audio from his phone unless his PC was producing sound. Each time he opened AliExpress, the phone audio stopped, and it resumed after he closed the tab containing the website.How AliExpress used browser audio fingerprintingWhile investigating the issue, Callaghan found two highly obfuscated scripts on the AliExpress homepage.
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