Your Browser's Fingerprint

Your Browser's Fingerprint

Internet privacy is a very real concern.  We all know of the NSA violations of privacy and that Google is tracking users for targeted  advertising.  Every time you connect to the internet, someone is attempting to compile statistics on you and your activities  It's safe to say that, in most instances, the tracking is not to your benefit.

The basic, and best known, tracking method it capturing your IP.  An anonymous proxy, VPN or Tor can obfuscate your IP and make personal identification difficult  Unless you use strong encryption, the content of your messages can be viewed, and that information may reveal who you are by direct or indirect means.

Traffic analysis requires the monitoring of entrance exit points of a message.  This is beyond the scope of the average hacker or organization, but is within the capability of NSA  However, there is another method of tracking that involves browser fingerprinting.  To accomplish communication, the browser must supply certain basic information.  This information constitutes a fingerprint that can be identified and tracked.

The site https://panopticlick.eff.org/ will analyze the browser fingerprint and indicate how unique that browser configuration is.  The larger the number, the more easily identifiable the browser is.  This, coupled with other techniques, is part of the identification tool box of those who would violate your privacy. Some test I made, with Firefox with the noscript addon in place are as follows:

TOR:
Scripts Allowed: 6994
Page Allowed:  6994
Allowed Globally: 6994
Scripts Forbidden: 521

STANDARD FIREFOX
Scripts Allowed: 1,135,375
Page Allowed:  1,385,384
Allowed Globally: 1,135,381
Scripts Forbidden: 3,399

The minor variations are due to changes in my operating environment and can be overcome by analysis of change characteristics.  Those minor changes are insignificant for identification purposes.

After performing an upgrade, the numbers became much worse.  Being one of the first to move to a new version does make your profile much easier to identify!  For fingerprint security purposes, it would seem to be wise to move to a new version until some time has passed.  Being one of a few is far less desirable than being one of many!