Did you know that you can be uniquely identified by websites simply based on your browser configuration? An extensive collection of browser features is known as a “browser fingerprint” and can include things like your web browser name and version, operating system and version, screen resolution, microphone, camera, installed fonts, installed plugins, cookies preferences, Do Not Track preferences, and many other features. All of this can be obtained without the use of cookies or your IP address.
There are legitimate reasons for websites to collect your browser fingerprint. For example, your bank or credit card company might use it to verify that you’re likely to be a legitimate user if you’ve previously authenticated using the same browser in the past. However, the same browser fingerprint can be used to track users across web sites and collect information about their habits and preferences without users knowing about it and consenting to being tracked.
If you’d like to see if your browser has a unique fingerprint, one option is to visit AmIUnique. Keeping in mind that results will vary for each browser on each device, here’s an example of how one of my browsers can be uniquely identified by AmIUnique:
If you scroll down, you’ll see all the browser attributes that are available to most websites, along with a similarity ratio that quantifies how many other visitors during a certain timeframe share the same attribute setting. When you see all the attributes that are exposed to websites, you’ll see how diverse browser fingerprints can be and how it is possible to uniquely identify browsers. You are also given the option to download your browser fingerprint. This yields a .json file which you can open in any text editor.
Another website that examines your browser fingerprint is Panopticlick. Here’s a summary of results:
If you click on the link to show full results, you’ll see all the browser characteristics and the frequency that other browsers have the same setting for each characteristic.
Browsers on mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers all have different fingerprints. Note that browser fingerprinting only uniquely identifies the browser that you are using—it does not uniquely identify who you are.
Now that we’ve established that it is possible to track your browser activities even if you disable or delete your browser cookies, you might wonder what you can do to improve your online privacy. While no methods give you complete privacy, one starting point is to install Privacy Badger which is available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera browsers. Other steps to take include installing other browser extensions or to use certain search engines and browsers which are listed here.
In summary, if you’re not already aware that you’ve given up some degree of your privacy just by visiting websites, I’m sorry to burst your bubble. While there are some measures you can take to improve your privacy, there may be a balance you will need to strike between privacy and convenience because making yourself completely private may also thwart legitimate uses of browser fingerprinting. Where will you draw the line?
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