- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
Amidst the glossy marketing for VPN services, it can be tempting to believe that the moment you flick on the VPN connection you can browse the internet with full privacy. Unfortunately this is quite far from the truth, as interacting with internet services like websites leaves a significant fingerprint. In a study by [RTINGS.com] this browser fingerprinting was investigated in detail, showing just how easy it is to uniquely identify a visitor across the 83 laptops used in the study.
As summarized in the related video (also embedded below), the start of the study involved the Am I Unique? website which provides you with an overview of your browser fingerprint. With over 4.5 million fingerprints in their database as of writing, even using Edge on Windows 10 marks you as unique, which is telling.
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I ran the “Am I Unique?” thing, and it said yes and then showed my OS, Browser, Language and Time Zone, and 3/4 of them were wrong lol.
I’ll take that as a good sign.
Seems like a bit of an over-simplification. I’m using VPN to stop my ISP snooping and manipulating my web traffic. And being unique in this sense doesn’t de-anonymize you.
Why does my browser tell javascript what plugins i have
This is why tails even fixes browser window size. It’s been a while since I looked at this landscape. Is tails still one of the best choices for, for example, whistleblowers?
Yes
Yes! You are unique among the 4553814 fingerprints in our entire dataset.
Ah crap…
I reserve a browser, like brave or edge, to use when I’m on the VPN. No plugins, no password manager, plain Jane vanilla browser + VPN, so they’re “fingerprinting” something I don’t use. Hard to compare when literally nothing matches.
Good luck.
Plus my VPN location changes often. Sometimes I use TOR browser on VPN (not sure it helps) if I’m wading through a very gray area.
Local pihole and ublock origin (on Firefox) alone seems to make my phone “unique” on its own.
Edge… MS’s admission that it is unable to develop or even secure something like this itself… But somehow people are spinning a fairy tale that Edge or MS, after their failure and waves of layoffs, will get it 100% implemented with an engine from another company, plus a 100% trust bonus for switching to Chrome… Rofl. (Recall, copilot, and everything else is ignored… Even the fact that non-MS manages to get certificates and private keys into the hands of criminals… Yes, Edge can be trusted!!11!1!!11!
Brsve… learn about Brave.
Well, Trojan horses are supposed to look “cool” on the outside, too.
Fortunately, it’s not just your own devices in the immediate vicinity that are tracked… but all connections that can be found. It’s great if you use VPN, Pi-hole, etc., and your neighbors’ connections still end up in the databases, for example… Then your IP address, your public IP address, and your VPN IP address can be linked, and a profile couldn’t be any more unique… ( well if you use wifi…bluetooth too)
Oh and last but not least… SS7… Can be used for secret surveillance, tracking, etc., and you can’t tell on your cell phone whether it’s being used against you… By the way, this also applies to grspheneos, etc.
I don’t do enough illegal shit to be a problem. I block 99% of ads, etc. if they really wanted me, my license plate is tracked all the time via cameras. If they really wanted me, come get me. You have to find the threshold that is acceptable to you, nothing is 100% secure without a LOT of preparation and work, which I just don’t care enough about.
I’m not out here hiding bodies, there are larger issues/people to worry about.
Used to create virtual avatars. To influence consumer behavior. To suppress the masses with minimal effort and maximize profits through fear, etc…
