3 ms·

How are 99.9% of browsers unique? Surely something like "Windows 7 running $LATEST_CHROME" must account for a very large chunk of traffic? I assume this takes

by jiggy2011 14y ago

How are 99.9% of browsers unique? Surely something like "Windows 7 running $LATEST_CHROME" must account for a very large chunk of traffic? I assume this takes into account IP address also?

jfb 14y ago
See: https://panopticlick.eff.org https://panopticlick.eff.org
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  Interesting , I just cleared cookies and tried that and apparently my browser is unique. I guess it would be somewhat rare (I am running Ubuntu) but not that rare. I'd be interested to know how this can be, since nothing in the info it gave back looked especially unusual.
  - jfb 14y ago
    That you're running Ubuntu is 99% of the entropy. Nobody uses Ubuntu (for certain values of nobody). The fonts you have installed. The versions of the plugins you have installed. &c. I've long wanted to build a WebKit based browser that simply lies in response to all of those evil questions. Add it to my backlog of Important Projects, I guess.
    - jiggy2011 14y ago
      But then a lot of websites wouldn't work properly because they are pushing IE specific CSS (or whatever) on you. I haven't installed any weird versions of plugins, I assumed they would be tied to whatever chrome version I have. And Ubuntu isn't rare enough for me to be the only person using it (especially on EFF). Going to have to experiment with this a bit.
  - bct 14y ago
    > nothing in the info it gave back looked especially unusual. It doesn't have to be unusual, it just has to vary slightly from machine to machine. It's the specific combination of those slight variations that's unusual.
ygra 14y ago
Panopticlick demonstrates a few things a website can gather. It's not just browser and OS version: https://panopticlick.eff.org/ https://panopticlick.eff.org/
- graue 14y ago
  I just tested at Panopticlick, and it told me my browser is completely unique. Just like it said the last 8 or so times I've been to Panopticlick. So I question how meaningful that is. Yes, it's pulling enough info to uniquely identify a browser for now, but in a week I'll add a plugin, remove a plugin, change a setting, update Firefox, whatever and the tracking will be lost. Edit: Also, browsers could be patched to randomize some of the information Panopticlick is using, like the exact way the HTTP Accept header is written, and the order in which plugins are reported.

How are 99.9% of browsers unique? Surely something like "Windows 7 running $LATEST_CHROME" must account for a very large chunk of traffic? I assume this takes into account IP address also?

jfb 14y ago

See: https://panopticlick.eff.org https://panopticlick.eff.org

jiggy2011 14y ago
Interesting , I just cleared cookies and tried that and apparently my browser is unique. I guess it would be somewhat rare (I am running Ubuntu) but not that rare. I'd be interested to know how this can be, since nothing in the info it gave back looked especially unusual.
- jfb 14y ago
  That you're running Ubuntu is 99% of the entropy. Nobody uses Ubuntu (for certain values of nobody). The fonts you have installed. The versions of the plugins you have installed. &c. I've long wanted to build a WebKit based browser that simply lies in response to all of those evil questions. Add it to my backlog of Important Projects, I guess.
  - jiggy2011 14y ago
    But then a lot of websites wouldn't work properly because they are pushing IE specific CSS (or whatever) on you. I haven't installed any weird versions of plugins, I assumed they would be tied to whatever chrome version I have. And Ubuntu isn't rare enough for me to be the only person using it (especially on EFF). Going to have to experiment with this a bit.
- bct 14y ago
  > nothing in the info it gave back looked especially unusual. It doesn't have to be unusual, it just has to vary slightly from machine to machine. It's the specific combination of those slight variations that's unusual.

ygra 14y ago

Panopticlick demonstrates a few things a website can gather. It's not just browser and OS version: https://panopticlick.eff.org/ https://panopticlick.eff.org/

graue 14y ago
I just tested at Panopticlick, and it told me my browser is completely unique. Just like it said the last 8 or so times I've been to Panopticlick. So I question how meaningful that is. Yes, it's pulling enough info to uniquely identify a browser for now, but in a week I'll add a plugin, remove a plugin, change a setting, update Firefox, whatever and the tracking will be lost. Edit: Also, browsers could be patched to randomize some of the information Panopticlick is using, like the exact way the HTTP Accept header is written, and the order in which plugins are reported.