A first look into Utiq: Next-generation cookies at the ISP level

TL;DR

This paper explores Utiq, a new ISP-level user tracking method designed to replace third-party cookies, analyzing its adoption and properties on popular websites amidst increasing privacy restrictions.

Contribution

It introduces Utiq as a novel ISP-based tracking technique and provides an initial analysis of its adoption on top websites, highlighting its potential as an alternative to cookies.

Findings

Utiq is present on 0.7% to 1.2% of top websites.

Utiq's adoption is still marginal but growing.

The system's restrictions limit its widespread use.

Abstract

Online privacy has become increasingly important in recent years. While third-party cookies have been widely used for years, they have also been criticized for their potential impact on user privacy. They can be used by advertisers to track users across multiple sites, allowing them to build detailed profiles of their behavior and interests. However, nowadays, many browsers allow users to block third-party cookies, which limits their usefulness for advertisers. In this paper, we take a first look at Utiq, a new way of user tracking performed directly by the ISP, to substitute the third-party cookies used until now. We study the main properties of this new identification methodology and their adoption on the 10K most popular websites. Our results show that, although still marginal due to the restrictions imposed by the system, between 0.7% and 1.2% of websites already include Utiq as one of their user identification methods.