Tracking Browsers Without Cookies Or IP Addresses?

Peter Eckersley writes "The EFF has launched a research project called Panopticlick, to determine whether seemingly innocuous browser configuration information (like User Agent strings, plugin versions and fonts) may create unique fingerprints that allow web users to be tracked, even if they limit or delete cookies. Preliminary results indicate that the User Agent string alone has 10.5 bits of entropy, which means that for a typical Internet user, only one in about 1,500 (2 ^ 10.5) others will share their User Agent string. If you visit Panopticlick, you can get a reading of how rare or unique your browser configuration is, as well as helping EFF to collect better data about this problem and how best to defend against it." I remember laughing years ago when I would see users who had modified their user agent string with some sort of defiant pro-privacy message, without realizing that their action made them uniquely identifiable out of hundreds of thousands of others.

Comments

Re:Results and flash cookies

[Archangel Michael]

And someone will create a Firefox Plugin in a few days that will randomize the variables being reported back, thus invalidating this.

I use a couple dozen different computers for things, and if they can "track" "ME" from that, all the better. Additionally, there are other people who use the same computers that I do, and if they can sniff out who is browsing at what time, all the more power to them. I also use three different browsers on the same computer to browse various sites as well, because of how they are rendered and the speed of rendering.

Now I also realize, that I'm not a "normal" case. Here's to being "odd" !

Wow!

[BitterOak]

I just ran this test, and I was horrified to discover that every font I have installed on my system shows up! I had no idea the browser (Firefox v. 3.5.7 with NoScript) leaks this kind of information. I do graphic design work and I have a huge number of fonts on my system, some of them unusual. I certainly don't want nor need to have them all available to my web browser, and I certainly don't want my web browser to be broadcasting this list to the world. Does anyone know if I can configure Firefox to use only the "standard" fonts? I really don't think it's anyone else's business which fonts I have installed.