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Using the DNT (Do-Not-Track) header as an example. When you make a request to a service, you're browser can attach this DNT header to signal to the service that

Using the DNT (Do-Not-Track) header as an example. When you make a request to a service, you're browser can attach this DNT header to signal to the service that you don't want to be tracked. But since services that you're getting responses from can just ignore that (no repercussions for ignoring it really), it becomes another data point they can use to separate you from other users who's headers would be the same as you.

gruez 5y ago
1. resistfingerprinting (RFP) doesn't affect DNT. it's also not some sort of flag that nicely asks services to stop tracking you. 2. That's not a good analogy. If we're looking at a single choice in isolation, it's true that opting into DNT (or RFP) makes you stick out compared to everyone. There's only two options (DNT header being present or not), and one option is obviously more common than the other. However, the difference with RFP on/off is that there aren't really two options. Yes, RFP can only be on/off, and "on" is much more rare than "off", but leaving it "off" also uniquely identifies your device through fingerprinting. You're not really choosing to blend into the "all the people with RFP on" group vs "all the people with RFP off" group. You're choosing to blend into the "all the people with RFP on" group vs "all the people with RFP off and has the fingerprint as you" group[1]. Whether that's more or less identifiable is unclear. If you have the most run of the mill setup[2], then RFP might indeed make you stick out more compared to your normal setup. However, if you have an uncommon setup, it might make you stick out less, because the amount of RFP users is greater than the amount of users with the same fingerprinting attributes as you. [1] in reality it's not really one group for RFP users and separate groups for everyone else. There are fingerprinting attributes that RFP doesn't block, so it's more like a set of groups for RFP users, and a separate set of groups for non-RFP users, but there are less distinct elements in the RFP set, since various fingerprinting attributes are spoofed to be the same. [2] see https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Fingerprinting https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Fingerprinting for list of features that are spoofed, and make your own determination how common your setup is.

gruez 5y ago

1. resistfingerprinting (RFP) doesn't affect DNT. it's also not some sort of flag that nicely asks services to stop tracking you. 2. That's not a good analogy. If we're looking at a single choice in isolation, it's true that opting into DNT (or RFP) makes you stick out compared to everyone. There's only two options (DNT header being present or not), and one option is obviously more common than the other. However, the difference with RFP on/off is that there aren't really two options. Yes, RFP can only be on/off, and "on" is much more rare than "off", but leaving it "off" also uniquely identifies your device through fingerprinting. You're not really choosing to blend into the "all the people with RFP on" group vs "all the people with RFP off" group. You're choosing to blend into the "all the people with RFP on" group vs "all the people with RFP off and has the fingerprint as you" group[1]. Whether that's more or less identifiable is unclear. If you have the most run of the mill setup[2], then RFP might indeed make you stick out more compared to your normal setup. However, if you have an uncommon setup, it might make you stick out less, because the amount of RFP users is greater than the amount of users with the same fingerprinting attributes as you. [1] in reality it's not really one group for RFP users and separate groups for everyone else. There are fingerprinting attributes that RFP doesn't block, so it's more like a set of groups for RFP users, and a separate set of groups for non-RFP users, but there are less distinct elements in the RFP set, since various fingerprinting attributes are spoofed to be the same. [2] see https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Fingerprinting https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Fingerprinting for list of features that are spoofed, and make your own determination how common your setup is.