I suppose one technical mitigation might be a permissions dialog when a script requests access to a high-risk API like canvas or WebGL. But that's unfortunately something that won't work for most users, who will just click through the dialog.
Not to mention the big players on the users’ team in the technical arms race (google, ms, apple) are also advertising companies.
By all means let’s solve it from the technical side - but also lets regulate privacy so everyone gets it not just people paranoid/technical enough to use the latest/best privacy respecting tools.
“If done right” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
The way hypothetical regulation is spoken of in abstract terms where it’s perfect, solves everything, and everyone complies perfectly is at odds with how regulation works in the real world.
They try to balance keeping corporate donors happy with keeping people happy, and create regulations that are toothless empty gestures that only serve as employment opportunities for lawyers and consultants.
So yes, “if done right” is doing a lot of work. But i refuse to cede gov to the corps and retreat to anarcho-capitalist ideas like “this is a technical problem”. We attack on all fronts - regulation and technological solutions.
To whatever degree this is, indeed, a technical problem. There’s a simple choke point that is being intentionally unutilized.
It isn't trivial to craft legislation to separate these use cases, but it also is far from impossible if there would be political will to do it.
I think the latter is far more interested in surveillance of users where tracking is one building block.
And of course legislation is needed to criminalize tracking without user consent. It would just be an internet stalking law being applied.