{
  "id": 3019182,
  "title": "AliExpress accused of fingerprinting shoppers with silent audio trick that also muted a dev's headphones",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/aliexpress-accused-of-fingerprinting-shoppers-with-silent-audio-trick",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-24T12:32:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register",
    "slug": "the-register",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/08/24/aliexpress-accused-of-fingerprinting-shoppers-with-silent-audio-trick-that-also-muted-a-devs-headphones/5291662"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Developer Matt Callaghan discovered that the AliExpress website uses audio fingerprinting to track web users, even when their Bluetooth headphones are muted. Callaghan noticed his headphones stopped playing music when he visited AliExpress on Firefox or Chrome. Further investigation revealed hidden audio scripts within AliExpress' browser security and anti-abuse tooling that generated a sawtooth waveform, measured the result, and read the frequency data without playing any audio. This allowed Alibaba to maintain the user's Bluetooth audio path, preventing their headphones from switching to the phone. While Firefox claims its anti-fingerprinting technology can thwart AliExpress' tracking, the developer found that only 99.24% of users fall into three \"buckets\" that the protection eliminates. The remaining 0.76% of users, including Callaghan, are not as effectively protected. Brave and Safari have also implemented measures to protect users from this audio fingerprinting technique.",
  "summary": "Sawtooth waves you can't hear still mess with your Bluetooth. Firefox and Brave say they've got you covered",
  "key_points": [
    "AliExpress uses silent audio trick to track shoppers",
    "Developer Matt Callaghan discovered audio fingerprinting",
    "Brave and Safari block AliExpress tracking technique"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Register Science",
        "title": "AliExpress accused of fingerprinting shoppers with silent audio trick that also muted a dev's headphones",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/aliexpress-accused-of-fingerprinting-shoppers-with-silent-audio-trick-3022124",
        "published": "2026-08-24T12:32:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}