Then he cleared the cache and browsing data and revisited the test page, which counted this as a second visit, although that shouldn’t be theoretically possible. The researcher visited the test page and got a tracking ID. The service claims that it can persistently track website visitors for years, even after multiple browser upgrades using a combination of fingerprinting, fuzzy matching, and server-side techniques. In this case, the software developer tested the solution of FingerprintJS Inc., which offers a live fingerprinting demo on its website, claiming accuracy of 99.5%. If a user visits multiple websites that use common fingerprinting technologies, third parties could create detailed profiles about their interests, preferences, and habits, deliver personalized ads across the sites, and deanonymize them even when the user actively tries to avoid that by using a VPN, for example.
The main problem with web fingerprinting is privacy invasion, as it allows websites, online services, and third parties to profile, track, and identify users across multiple browsing sessions and websites without their consent. Moreover, there are enough data points that can be freely collected to help websites create unique visitor IDs with high confidence. For example, websites employ fingerprinting libraries to collect data from JavaScript APIs offered by browsers, including browser version, number of CPUs, screen size, codecs, and more.īecause this data does not need cookies to collect, existing protection systems are weak against fingerprinting. Web fingerprinting is a sophisticated tracking method that can identify users across multiple sessions and websites without using cookies or other persistent storage.įingerprinting works by analyzing a user’s web browser and hardware configuration to generate a unique ID. This applies even in cases where the user has wiped their browser’s cache and restarts them or when they use a VPN connection.Ī software developer using the moniker “ Bitestring” tested an open-source tool released by a company that offers “fingerprinting as a service” to websites against Chrome, Firefox, and Tor, and the results are worrying. Current web fingerprinting solutions can still bypass most privacy protections offered in modern web browsers, persistently tracking users and identifying them.
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