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I'm really not surprised. I assume every website does this. On my Linux laptop, I run NoScript, and I've got Firefox configured to clear EVERYTHING when I close

by _RPM 10y ago

I'm really not surprised. I assume every website does this. On my Linux laptop, I run NoScript, and I've got Firefox configured to clear EVERYTHING when I close my browser. I don't run Flash or any other plugins. I haven't done much inspection, but the whole notion of "logging out" doesn't mean much to me. In the context of cookies, I just assume they clear the one that says "this guy is authenticated", to "not authenticated, but we know the last person that was here".

vessenes 10y ago
That really won't help you against modern browser fingerprinting technologies; it's fine to do of course, but generally it probably just makes your own experience worse without hampering tracking technology.
- _RPM 10y ago
  Be more specific, I know there are things like Canvas Fingerprinting. I'm not sure I can appreciate your claims without you citing specific examples.
  - vintageseltzer 10y ago
    That's not the nicest way to ask for additional information, but see: https://panopticlick.eff.org/about#browser-fingerprinting https://panopticlick.eff.org/about#browser-fingerprinting > The site you are visiting may choose to analyze your browser using JavaScript, Flash and other methods (just like Panopticlick does). It may look for what types of fonts you have installed, the language you’ve set, the add-ons you’ve installed, and other factors. The site may then create a type of profile of you, tied to this pattern of characteristics associated with your browser, rather than tied to a specific tracking cookie.
    - yrro 10y ago
      Presumably this is the kind of tracking that the EU ePrivacy directive prohibits.
    - zacketysack3 10y ago
      Browser fingerprinting is really scary, but AFAIK there are no major websites using it yet right? It should be fairly easy to detect if something you Google in an different browser session suddenly turns up as an ad on Reddit after you've deleted cookies and cleared history. Also it seems unlikely that Reddit would implement something like this after considering the outcry over the possibility of the Facebook mobile app recording audio. Especially since Reddit has a large technical userbase who are aware of privacy concerns in fingerprinting technologies. E: why is this being downvoted?
  - vessenes 10y ago
    Simplest way to see if you're fingerprintable is to go to https://panopticlick.eff.org/ https://panopticlick.eff.org/. I can't promise they are up to date, so if you get a 'Not fingerprintable' result, it may be incorrect. But, if the EFF can fingerprint you, almost any website in the world can, or their ad network can.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- nsuser 10y ago
  What would help against modern browser fingerprinting technologies?
  - dandelion_lover 10y ago
    What about a disposable VM in Qubes OS?
    - adiabatty 10y ago
      Sounds like all the fingerprinters would build up a profile of the one person running Qubes from your IP.
  - vessenes 10y ago
    I'm not an expert, so there may be a better answer for this, but I choose to act online as if they are not defeatable.
  - chinathrow 10y ago
    Maybe Tor to some degree? The design doc is full of references regarding fingerprinting and "fingerprinting anonymity/reduction" itself is mentioned explicitly within the adversaries chapter. https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser/design/ https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser/design/
- qwertyasdfgh 10y ago
  We ran some tests with a similar library and about 15% of the time we'd get hash collisions from completely different users. Sure, my setup might be totally unique, but other peoples vanilla installs are identical.
hackuser 10y ago
You may be interested in the Self-Destructing Cookies add-on. It associates each cookies with the sites that send them and deletes the cookie when you close the tab with the site (as I understand it).

by _RPM 10y ago

vessenes 10y ago

That really won't help you against modern browser fingerprinting technologies; it's fine to do of course, but generally it probably just makes your own experience worse without hampering tracking technology.

_RPM 10y ago
Be more specific, I know there are things like Canvas Fingerprinting. I'm not sure I can appreciate your claims without you citing specific examples.
- vintageseltzer 10y ago
  That's not the nicest way to ask for additional information, but see: https://panopticlick.eff.org/about#browser-fingerprinting https://panopticlick.eff.org/about#browser-fingerprinting > The site you are visiting may choose to analyze your browser using JavaScript, Flash and other methods (just like Panopticlick does). It may look for what types of fonts you have installed, the language you’ve set, the add-ons you’ve installed, and other factors. The site may then create a type of profile of you, tied to this pattern of characteristics associated with your browser, rather than tied to a specific tracking cookie.
  - yrro 10y ago
    Presumably this is the kind of tracking that the EU ePrivacy directive prohibits.
  - zacketysack3 10y ago
    Browser fingerprinting is really scary, but AFAIK there are no major websites using it yet right? It should be fairly easy to detect if something you Google in an different browser session suddenly turns up as an ad on Reddit after you've deleted cookies and cleared history. Also it seems unlikely that Reddit would implement something like this after considering the outcry over the possibility of the Facebook mobile app recording audio. Especially since Reddit has a large technical userbase who are aware of privacy concerns in fingerprinting technologies. E: why is this being downvoted?
- vessenes 10y ago
  Simplest way to see if you're fingerprintable is to go to https://panopticlick.eff.org/ https://panopticlick.eff.org/. I can't promise they are up to date, so if you get a 'Not fingerprintable' result, it may be incorrect. But, if the EFF can fingerprint you, almost any website in the world can, or their ad network can.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
nsuser 10y ago
What would help against modern browser fingerprinting technologies?
- dandelion_lover 10y ago
  What about a disposable VM in Qubes OS?
  - adiabatty 10y ago
    Sounds like all the fingerprinters would build up a profile of the one person running Qubes from your IP.
- vessenes 10y ago
  I'm not an expert, so there may be a better answer for this, but I choose to act online as if they are not defeatable.
- chinathrow 10y ago
  Maybe Tor to some degree? The design doc is full of references regarding fingerprinting and "fingerprinting anonymity/reduction" itself is mentioned explicitly within the adversaries chapter. https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser/design/ https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser/design/
qwertyasdfgh 10y ago
We ran some tests with a similar library and about 15% of the time we'd get hash collisions from completely different users. Sure, my setup might be totally unique, but other peoples vanilla installs are identical.

hackuser 10y ago

You may be interested in the Self-Destructing Cookies add-on. It associates each cookies with the sites that send them and deletes the cookie when you close the tab with the site (as I understand it).