{"id":297684,"date":"2021-07-13T15:00:05","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/what-is-browser-fingerprinting-and-how-can-you-block-it\/"},"modified":"2021-07-13T15:00:05","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T12:00:05","slug":"what-is-browser-fingerprinting-and-how-can-you-block-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-browser-fingerprinting-and-how-can-you-block-it\/","title":{"rendered":"#What Is Browser Fingerprinting, and How Can You Block It?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3a7a77305ba\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3a7a77305ba\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-browser-fingerprinting-and-how-can-you-block-it\/#What_Is_Browser_Fingerprinting\" >What Is Browser Fingerprinting?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-browser-fingerprinting-and-how-can-you-block-it\/#How_Does_Browser_Fingerprinting_Work\" >How Does Browser Fingerprinting Work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-browser-fingerprinting-and-how-can-you-block-it\/#What_Is_a_Fingerprint_Profile_Good_for\" >What Is a Fingerprint Profile Good for?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-browser-fingerprinting-and-how-can-you-block-it\/#How_to_Protect_Yourself_from_Browser_Fingerprinting\" >How to Protect Yourself from Browser Fingerprinting<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#What Is Browser Fingerprinting, and How Can You Block It?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-736848 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/fingerprint.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Taking a fingerprint on white paper.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/taking-fingerprints-isolated-on-white-167933999\" data-credittext=\"Africa Studio\/Shutterstock.com\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/taking-fingerprints-isolated-on-white-167933999\">Africa Studio\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Browser fingerprinting is a method with which the websites you visit can identify you. It\u2019s mostly used to target ads at people, although it can also be used to secure websites and accounts from unauthorized access.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_Browser_Fingerprinting\"><\/span>What Is Browser Fingerprinting?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Websites can use browser fingerprinting to identify you. It works by running a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a> that looks at specific data your browser sends to the site and compiling a profile of you as a user. It\u2019s called a fingerprint because, like with the ones on your fingers, with enough data, it can be made entirely unique.<\/p>\n<p>Before we move on, though, let\u2019s clear up some terminology: The terms browser fingerprinting and device fingerprinting are often used interchangeably, but that\u2019s not entirely correct. A device fingerprint or a machine fingerprint is information about the device you\u2019re on, collected either through a browser or an app.<\/p>\n<p>A browser fingerprint is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/coveryourtracks.eff.org\/static\/browser-uniqueness.pdf\">more specific,<\/a>\u00a0and is all of the information gathered through the browser. Besides device information, it includes data like the type and version of the browser that you\u2019re using, the operating system that you\u2019re rocking, the language that your browser is in, and a lot of other, more minor data points, like screen resolution.<\/p>\n<p>At first glance, this might seem like pedestrian stuff. However, with enough of these data points, the picture of the user on the other end becomes clearer and clearer. Make it precise enough, and the site in question can be pretty sure who you are and use that information to target ads at you.<\/p>\n<p>For example, there are only so many people who use a specific Android version. On top of that,\u00a0 there are only so many people who use a certain version of Chrome, only so many people who have their browser language set to French, only so many people who use a 1920\u00d71080 resolution, etc. The script is running you through a funnel, and each step gets it closer to you.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Does_Browser_Fingerprinting_Work\"><\/span>How Does Browser Fingerprinting Work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The list of data points that can be used to narrow down a profile is long, and you\u2019d be surprised how accurate fingerprinting algorithms turn out to be. For example, in one <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hal.inria.fr\/hal-01285470\/file\/beauty-sp16.pdf\">2016 study<\/a>, 81% of website visitors were boiled down to a unique profile. This is done not only by using passive data, like browser type and screen resolution, but also, through more active means. Below are a few examples.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Canvas fingerprinting<\/b>: The fingerprinting script will run a \u201ccanvas\u201d over your image of the website, invisible to you, which displays differently to the script depending on the type of graphical hardware you\u2019re using. It\u2019s a great way to identify your graphics card and drivers. WebGL fingerprinting uses a similar method.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Audio fingerprinting<\/b>: This type of script analyzes how sound is played on your computer. Tiny variations in tone can narrow down your audio driver.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> fingerprinting<\/b>: This method takes an inventory of the media drivers on your computer and identifies as many as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The trick to browser fingerprinting isn\u2019t to find a single data point that tells the script who you are, but rather, it\u2019s all about finding as much information as possible and aggregating it to form a picture of you.<\/p>\n<p>However, we should mention here that fingerprinting isn\u2019t all bad. The technique is also used for security purposes. For example, it\u2019s likely that your credit card company takes a print every time you log in to make sure that you\u2019re you. You\u2019ve probably seen the alerts when you log in from a weird location or from a different device.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_a_Fingerprint_Profile_Good_for\"><\/span>What Is a Fingerprint Profile Good for?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The main reason to create a fingerprint is so that ads can be targeted more accurately at users. By narrowing down who you are, it\u2019s easier for an algorithm to determine which ads to show or not show, as the case may be. If, for example, it\u2019s determined that you\u2019re on an Android device, you probably won\u2019t see any iPhone-related messages.<\/p>\n<p>That description might remind you of browser cookies, and while they serve a similar purpose, they work quite differently. A cookie is more like a tracking device. Once it\u2019s on your computer, the site that stuck it there knows where you are and what you\u2019re doing. A browser fingerprint is more static.\u00a0It uses set data about you and your device to determine exactly who you are and marks when you visit its site, but it can\u2019t follow you around.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this, the data that a cookie collects is more valuable, although you can turn them off\u2014and browsers are increasingly <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/72702\/google-promises-to-stop-other-companies-from-tracking-you-across-the-internet\/\">blocking third-party cookies<\/a> in a blow to online tracking. A fingerprint is almost the opposite: Because much of the data that it transmits is vital to the way that you view the internet, there\u2019s no way of switching it off. It\u2019s less revealing but practically undetectable\u2014and almost impossible to switch off.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Protect_Yourself_from_Browser_Fingerprinting\"><\/span>How to Protect Yourself from Browser Fingerprinting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>That\u2019s the crux of browser fingerprinting: It\u2019s almost impossible to dodge. There are ways to disable some of the data transfer by using extensions like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/noscript.net\/\">NoScript<\/a> (which disables JavaScript) or browser-like programs such as Tor, but while they keep you safe, they also make the overwhelming majority of the internet off-limits to you. Most sites won\u2019t show up without the information that fingerprint scripts collect.<\/p>\n<p>Such being the case, you\u2019re more or less damned if you do, damned if you don\u2019t. Even tactics that you can use to avoid law enforcement, like using incognito mode and a VPN together, won\u2019t get in the way of browser fingerprinting. That being said, some browsers, among them <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mozilla.org\/en-US\/firefox\/features\/block-fingerprinting\/\">Mozilla<\/a>, claim to have developed techniques to block fingerprinting. Still, it looks like browser fingerprinting might be here to stay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/735535\/what-is-browser-fingerprinting-and-how-can-you-block-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#What Is Browser Fingerprinting, and How Can You Block It?&#8221; Africa Studio\/Shutterstock.com Browser fingerprinting is a method with which the websites you visit can identify you. It\u2019s mostly used to target ads at people, although it can also be used to secure websites and accounts from unauthorized access. What Is Browser Fingerprinting? Websites can use&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":297685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/fingerprint.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-297684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}