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Browser fingerprinting more prevalent on the web now than ever before – research

2 points by XzetaU8 6y ago

Normille 6y ago
I may be really naive but: until quite recently, although aware of browser fingerprinting in the sense of sites' ability to identify you based on data like browser user agent, operating system & version, language & timezone, installed plugins, etc. etc. I'd never heard of Canvas Fingerprinting [0] or WebGL fingerprinting [1]. I found out about these forms of user tracking while investigating why a friend, who had had their FB account disabled, was unable to set up a new account without it immediately being disabled too. This in spite of said friend having deleted all cookies, cleared browser cache, even tried different browsers, etc. I've since installed the Canvas/ Font / WebGL Fingerprint Defender [2] plugins on all my browsers and I've been stunned at how many sites are surreptitiously using these nefarious techniques to try and track me. Again, perhaps naively, I'd thought that my existing uBlock Origin, uMatrix and PrivacyBadger plugins were keeping me pretty untraceable. What makes it all the more infuriating is that we've all [at least those of us in EU] got used to those annoying GDPR cookie warnings popping up on every site we visit and being able to make a choice as to what [if any] identification and/or tracking we're going to allow. Yet here's a whole swathe of unannounced and morally questionable identification & tracking going on, which seems to be allowed to fly completely under the user's radar. A further annoyance: Since I installed those anti-fingerprinting plugins, my bank website will no longer allow me to login without wanting to send me a 2FA confirmation text each time. This in spite of the fact that I have allowed the site to set cookies. It displays some kind of error message about me using a browser I've not used before, shows me a box to tick; "Remember me" and advises me to allow cookies, if I don't want to have to go through this 2FA by SMS process each time. A blatant piece of disinformation, since it's not identifying me by whatever cookies I've allowed it to set, at all, but by a WebGL or Canvas [can't remember which] fingerprint, which I'm not even told told about. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvas_fingerprinting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvas_fingerprinting [1] https://browserleaks.com/webgl https://browserleaks.com/webgl [2] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/fingerprint%20defender https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/fingerprint%20defe...

2 points by XzetaU8 6y ago

I may be really naive but: until quite recently, although aware of browser fingerprinting in the sense of sites' ability to identify you based on data like browser user agent, operating system & version, language & timezone, installed plugins, etc. etc. I'd never heard of Canvas Fingerprinting [0] or WebGL fingerprinting [1]. I found out about these forms of user tracking while investigating why a friend, who had had their FB account disabled, was unable to set up a new account without it immediately being disabled too. This in spite of said friend having deleted all cookies, cleared browser cache, even tried different browsers, etc. I've since installed the Canvas/ Font / WebGL Fingerprint Defender [2] plugins on all my browsers and I've been stunned at how many sites are surreptitiously using these nefarious techniques to try and track me. Again, perhaps naively, I'd thought that my existing uBlock Origin, uMatrix and PrivacyBadger plugins were keeping me pretty untraceable. What makes it all the more infuriating is that we've all [at least those of us in EU] got used to those annoying GDPR cookie warnings popping up on every site we visit and being able to make a choice as to what [if any] identification and/or tracking we're going to allow. Yet here's a whole swathe of unannounced and morally questionable identification & tracking going on, which seems to be allowed to fly completely under the user's radar. A further annoyance: Since I installed those anti-fingerprinting plugins, my bank website will no longer allow me to login without wanting to send me a 2FA confirmation text each time. This in spite of the fact that I have allowed the site to set cookies. It displays some kind of error message about me using a browser I've not used before, shows me a box to tick; "Remember me" and advises me to allow cookies, if I don't want to have to go through this 2FA by SMS process each time. A blatant piece of disinformation, since it's not identifying me by whatever cookies I've allowed it to set, at all, but by a WebGL or Canvas [can't remember which] fingerprint, which I'm not even told told about. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvas_fingerprinting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvas_fingerprinting [1] https://browserleaks.com/webgl https://browserleaks.com/webgl [2] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/fingerprint%20defender https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/fingerprint%20defe...