Slashdot Mirror
New Site Checks Your Browser's Fingerprint
"Does your web browser have a unique fingerprint? If so your web browser could be tracked across websites without techniques such as tracking cookies..." warns a new site created by the University of Adelaide and ACEMS, adding "the anonymization aspects of services such as Tor or VPNs could be negated if sites you visit track you using your browser fingerprint." AnonymousCube contacted Slashdot about their free browser fingerprinting test suite:
On the site you can see what data can be used to track you and how unique your fingerprint is. The site includes new tests, such as detecting software such as Privacy Badger, via how social media buttons are disabled, and CSS only (no JavaScript or flash) tests to get screen size and installed fonts.
If you're serious about privacy, you might want to test the uniqueness of your browser's fingerprint.
If you're serious about privacy, you might want to test the uniqueness of your browser's fingerprint.
> An extension that sets your fingerprint data to be the exact same as everyone else. That would be amusing.
It would be ineffective unless a TON of people were using it. Until then it would just make you stand out more because they could easily recognize you as having that extension installed and then combined with all your other info (ip address, user agent, timezone, screen size, list of installed fonts, etc) you'd still be trackable.
> For example, why does my browser expose monitor contrast level?
It doesn't. YOU exposed it. When you filled out that captcha. The image in the captcha has a character that is invisible on low contrast monitors. So they discriminate your monitor contrast based on whether or not you typed in that character.