Developers: 5 Steps to Cross Platform Persistent Device IDs
Implement persistent device IDs across Android, iOS, and web. Learn MediaDrm and Keychain storage, migration and privacy best practices, plus ShieldLabs'...
Blog / Device fingerprinting
Device fingerprinting
Returning visitor conversion: recognizing the returning shopper to capture the lift
Returning visitors convert far better than first-timers, but logged-out shoppers look new. Recognizing the returning device captures the conversion lift.
Personalization for anonymous visitors: recognizing returning visitors without a login
How to personalize for returning visitors who are not logged in, by recognizing their device with a durable identifier that holds without cookies.
Persistent carts and preferences: keeping state for logged-out returning visitors
How to keep a returning visitor's cart and preferences across sessions without a login, by recognizing the device with a durable identifier.
New vs returning visitors: what a good ratio is, and why the number is only as good as your cookies
What a good new vs returning visitor ratio is, why the cookie-based count in analytics is wrong, and how returning visitors are recognized without cookies.
The best device fingerprinting solutions in 2026: build vs buy
The best device fingerprinting solutions in 2026, split into open-source libraries you self-host and commercial ones that maintain the identifier.
What was Google's Privacy Sandbox, and why did it end in 2025?
Google retired the Privacy Sandbox in October 2025 and third-party cookies are staying in Chrome. What it was, why it ended, and what it means for fraud.
Passwordless authentication: how it works, methods, and limits
What passwordless authentication is, how it works, the main methods from passkeys to magic links, its benefits and limits, and where device signals fit.
Device-based authentication: recognizing the trusted device behind a login
What device-based authentication is, how recognizing a trusted device makes login transparent, how it differs from passkeys and cookies, and where it fits.
Adaptive authentication: the device signal that decides when to step up
How adaptive (risk-based) authentication works, the signals it weighs, and how a recognized device decides when to step up and when to let a user through.
The 13 best device intelligence platforms in 2026
A practical guide to the best device intelligence platforms in 2026, how to evaluate them, and which you can evaluate on your own traffic versus sales-led suites.
Cookieless device identification: how to recognize a returning device without cookies
What cookieless device identification is, how it recognizes a returning device without a stored cookie, and why it is not the same as cookieless analytics.
What is device fingerprinting? How it works, signals, and uses
What is device fingerprinting: the signals that make up a device fingerprint, how recognition works across browsers, and what teams use it for.