AliExpress Used Hidden Audio Fingerprinting to Track Devices, Triggering Privacy Fears Over Silent Web Audio
Updated
Updated · UNILAD Tech · Aug 24
AliExpress Used Hidden Audio Fingerprinting to Track Devices, Triggering Privacy Fears Over Silent Web Audio
3 articles · Updated · UNILAD Tech · Aug 24
Summary
A developer traced a Bluetooth headphone bug to an AliExpress tab and found the site using a hidden audio fingerprinting method to profile visitors’ devices.
The scripts used the Web Audio API at zero volume to keep a connection to a computer’s audio system, even when the tab was muted, by playing silent sound and measuring how each device processed it.
The same investigation also found code tied to canvas rendering, display settings, hardware configuration and user interactions, broadening concerns that AliExpress and parent Alibaba were collecting extensive device data.
Brave said it has blocked audio fingerprinting by default for more than 6 years by injecting random data into browser output, underscoring how anti-tracking browsers remain one of the few practical defenses.