Research led by Doug Leith at Trinity College Dublin reveals that Android users begin to form advertising profiles even before using any apps. Leith highlights that various trackers, including the DSID cookie, are established without user consent and have no opt-out choices. The DSID cookie is linked to Google accounts and plays a crucial role in user identification for ad targeting. Additionally, the Google Android ID tracker is activated at device connection and persists beyond user logout, continuing data transmission to Google. This raises significant privacy concerns over unconsented data collection.
One of these is the "DSID" cookie, which Google explains in its documentation is used to identify a "signed in user on non-Google websites so that the user's preference for personalized advertising is respected accordingly." The "DSID" cookie lasts for two weeks.
Leith says the DSID advertising cookie is created shortly after the user logs into their Google account - part of the Android startup process - with a tracking file linked to that account placed into the Google Play Service's app data folder.
Leith's research states the explanation was still "rather vague and not as helpful as it might be," and the main issue is that there's no consent sought from Google before dropping the cookie and there's no opt-out feature either.
Another tracker which cannot be removed once created is the Google Android ID, a device identifier that's linked to a user's Google account and created after the first connection made to the device by Google Play Services.
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