I didn't get the same ID when using Safari in a "regular" window, then visiting again in a Private Browsing window. So that's good I guess?
Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
21–30 of 219 posts
Re: Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
#22This isn't exactly browser fingerprinting (though it may involve browser fingerprinting.) But the biggest open question I have right now is: what is Meta doing to get around Apple's iOS privacy protections?
A couple of years ago, Apple launched App Tracking Transparency as a way to reduce tracking across their iOS app ecosystem. People predicted that this would be devastating for companies like Meta and Snap, and it was -- briefly, for Meta. But Meta seems to have rebounded very quickly, maybe Snap not so quickly. The rumor I've heard is that Meta threw every brain they had against the problem of finding new ways to track app users, which presumably involves some similar type of fingerprinting. The revenue success strongly indicates were successful. But if this is true, nobody has much written about it.
Re: Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
sure, if they ask you can we track you and you say no they should not fingerprint.
How would you ever find out/enforce this though? With cookies, you can examine the local cookie storage but with fingerprinting everything happens server-side (as I understand).
The fingerprint collection happens mostly using client-side JS (a bit of server side with HTTP headers, but the really high entropy stuff is client side).
Conceivably you could develop some sort of heuristic that detects when a script is simultaneously poking at a whole bunch of APIs associated with common fingerprinting techniques (canvas capabilities, WebGL, screen size, installed fonts, etc) and then kill it. But it is certainly much harder than blocking cookies.
Re: Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
#24Browser fingerprinting is one of those things that should be outright illegal - it is far more of a threat than tracking cookies ever were. But it hasn't permeated the public consciousness like cookies have, so regulators seem to ignore it.
Seems almost impossible to police though.
Yes, it’s probably worse to have unenforced regulations than no regulations.
Re: Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
#25People who are recommending Tor/torBrowser the last versions are enabling system spoofing which helps to fingerprints you. Also Javascript can just help to fingerprint you easily even if the browser doesn't
Re: Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
#26title should mention this is from March 2023
Re: Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
#27So, one thing I don't quite get about fingerprinting:
> For example, websites can see web browser version, number of CPUs on your device, screen size, number of touchpoints, video/audio codecs, operating system and many other details
If, for example, I upgrade my web browser in two weeks (i.e. I get a new version number), doesn't that mean that the site has lost me?
Sites like https://coveryourtracks.eff.org seem to focus on how unique your fingerprint is, but doesn't it also matter how stable it is over time?
Re: Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
#28It's a little unclear to me - does Brave prevent it or not? Edit: some interesting background on what they do here: https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Fingerprinting-P...
Does it matter? Brave is adware, so even if they prevent fingerprinting, you're just trading one vendor for another.
Re: Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
#29People who are recommending Tor/torBrowser the last versions are enabling system spoofing which helps to fingerprints you. Also Javascript can just help to fingerprint you easily even if the browser doesn't
how does system spoofing fingerprint you, if it spoofs same way for all tor users?
Re: Web fingerprinting is worse than I thought (2023)
#30Browser fingerprinting is one of those things that should be outright illegal - it is far more of a threat than tracking cookies ever were. But it hasn't permeated the public consciousness like cookies have, so regulators seem to ignore it.
Seems almost impossible to police though.
Since fingerprinting is mostly client side, it should be detectable. If you serve a web page with a fingerprinting script, that should be an automatic big fine.