Browser fingerprinting: What is it and why you should care

Most people know about cookies, but browser fingerprinting is an even more invasive tracking method. Websites and advertisers use fingerprinting to build a unique profile of your device, browser, and settings, allowing them to track you even when you clear cookies or use incognito mode.

In this article, we’ll break down what browser fingerprinting is, how it works, the data it collects, and how you can protect your privacy online.

One crucial way to protect yourself from browser fingerprinting and online tracking is with a decentralized VPN like NymVPN. By masking your IP address multiple times and protecting against metadata tracking, NymVPN makes it harder for websites, advertisers, and data brokers to build a unique profile of you.

Browser fingerprinting and device fingerprinting?

Both browser fingerprinting and device fingerprinting are methods for tracking people’s actions online. They differ in whether these attributes come from your browser or more broadly in your device. Together, this information – which is often something you’ll never think about – forms a unique marker or fingerprint left on whatever you do.

What is browser fingerprinting?

Browser fingerprinting is a tracking method that collects unique attributes from your web browser to identify and track you across the internet. Unlike cookies, which can be deleted in many cases, a browser fingerprint is difficult to erase because the data is collected by third parties and stored outside your device. This makes digital fingerprinting a powerful surveillance tool for advertisers, analytics firms, and even governments.

What is device fingerprinting?

Digital fingerprinting doesn’t just draw on information from your browser. Device fingerprinting extends tracking to hardware, operating system, and network settings.

So what information does browser and device fingerprinting collect?

Data collection through browser fingerprinting

Just like fingerprinting identifies you through the unique configuration of lines on the tips of your fingers (and these days, your voice or way of walking), digital fingerprinting works by collecting data points about your browser and device. Each of these provide different types of details that together can be used to identify you.

Browser fingerprinting

Browser fingerprinting focuses on specific attributes of the web browser you are using to access the web. This includes, but is not limited to:

• User agent string: Identifies your browser, version, and OS
• Screen resolution: Helps differentiate users based on display settings
• Fonts and extensions: Installed fonts and browser extensions are unique identifiers
• Language settings: Default and optional languages used on a browser
• Canvas fingerprinting: Uses a hidden HTML5 canvas to draw a unique image that can be used as an identifier
• WebGL fingerprinting: Similar to canvas fingerprinting, but uses 3D rendering to track devices

Device fingerprinting

Even deeper information can be gleaned about your device and network:

• Device type (e.g., computer or phone model) and operating system
• IP address which identifies your device through your Internet Service Provider ISP)
• Screen resolution and hardware specifications
• Time zones set by default on your OS

Unfortunately, the list continues. While no single piece of information is sufficient to identify you across web sessions, taken together, third party trackers will have enough of an individual fingerprint left to profiling whatever you do online.

How does fingerprinting strategies work?

As we’ve seen, fingerprinting tactics rely on my different data points left exposed by your browser, device, and network. Let’s look at how a few combinations work.

IP address fingerprinting

Your IP address provides a basic form of fingerprinting, revealing your proximate location, device types and OS, and ISP. If your IP address does not change regularly or is not covered by a VPN, this can be a sufficient fingerprint to track you online. Learn more about what your IP address is and how it can be used to track you.

Canvas fingerprinting

A hidden HTML5 canvas element is used to render a unique image. This reveals subtle differences in devices based on rendering, hardware, and driver configurations. Even when different people are generating the same content, the unique hash value for each device can form an individual fingerprint.

WebGL & audio fingerprinting

WebGL fingerprinting gathers data about graphics hardware, while audio fingerprinting analyzes how a device processes sound to create a unique identifier.

Plugin & extension tracking

Tracking which browser plugins or extensions are installed can create a fingerprint.

Device Configuration Tracking

Elements like system fonts, time zone, and hardware specs contribute to a unique fingerprint.

What’s the difference between fingerprinting and cookies?

Cookies are installed directly on your browsers to track your information and web activities across sessions. This can be for functionality reasons like allowing you to remain signed in to a trust site through multiple sessions. They can also be malicious tracking software to compile your web behavior and preferences to distribute to third parties like advertisers and data brokers.

Unlike traditional cookies, fingerprinting cookies work in conjunction with cookies to combine with other data fingerprinting techniques. Fingerprinting cookies can be harder to delete because they compile information from your browser and device that are not stored on the cookies themselves which you might try to delete.

Summary

Browser fingerprinting is a powerful tracking method that collects unique data about your browser and device. Unlike cookies, it cannot be easily deleted, making it a privacy concern for internet users. Fortunately, privacy-focused browsers and anti-fingerprinting tools can help mitigate tracking.

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Browser Fingerprinting FAQs

Are cookie tracking and digital fingerprinting the same thing?

No. Cookies store data on a user’s device, while fingerprinting collects browser and system attributes to track users without storing local files.

Is browser fingerprinting legal?

Yes, but its legality depends on data protection laws. The GDPR and CCPA regulate its use in some regions, requiring user consent.

What browser blocks fingerprinting?

• Brave: Blocks fingerprinting by default
• Tor Browser: Randomizes fingerprints to prevent tracking

To enhance privacy, use a fingerprinting-resistant browser, a VPN, and disable JavaScript where possible.

What are anti-fingerprinting tools?

Even with anti-fingerprinting techniques, websites can still track you in unexpected ways. Stay ahead of invasive tracking by using NymVPN, which ensures your IP address and browsing data remain unlinkable, making it much harder to be fingerprinted online.