Want to know the latest buzzword for internet marketing and tracking? Look no further than “canvas fingerprinting.”

The term sounds like some kind of nonsense arts and crafts project that might have been featured on Blue’s Clues circa 1996, but according to a recent article from PC Magazine, it’s actually more like the new version of a tracking cookie. In fact, PC Mag classified canvas fingerprinting as “a sneakier alternative to a cookie” that can be used to track Web users, collect information on the websites they visit frequently, and build profiles about users based on that information.

The information collected in these profiles can be used for a number of applications, from helping websites to design and curate their content based on what their readers like, to giving advertisers a leg up on their potential buyers. In other words, canvas fingerprinting really does serve the same general purpose as tracking cookies, which begs the question: Why is it necessary?

In essence, canvas fingerprinting is growing in popularity among website managers because, at this point, most users have caught on to what tracking cookies are doing. There are plenty of browser settings, AdBlock software features, and other programs on the internet these days that allow users to block tracking cookies or simply opt out of having their movements on the web tracked. However, canvas fingerprinting does not respond to these programs or settings in the same way as tracking cookies.

In other words, canvas fingerprinting is a more resilient form of internet tracking, and while software designers will think of ways to block the new technology eventually, right now, users will be hard-pressed to explore the internet without leaving a so-called “canvas fingerprint.”

So how does it work? Essentially, canvas fingerprinting writes unique shreds of text into your browser. These bits of script are slightly different for every computer, meaning that each one functions more or less as a “fingerprint” of its user. When that user gets online and goes to a website with canvas fingerprinting, a tracker analyzes the browser’s text fingerprints, identifying the user behind them and using that information for advertising or content personalization purposes.

Undoubtedly, advertisers will love canvas fingerprinting. Everyone else, though, might have a problem with the privacy-invasive nature of the technology. Currently, those looking to avoid canvas fingerprinting can do so fairly easily. This list catalogs all of the sites that were using canvas fingerprinting as of early May, and while there are some big names on the list – from CBS to Perez Hilton – users can still feasibly just steer clear of these websites. As canvas fingerprinting becomes more popular, avoidance will become more difficult, but perhaps by then, someone will have figured out how to block it.

Only time will tell.