this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2025
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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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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 7 points 7 hours ago (3 children)

Every time I use that site it says I am unique. So is that good? Surely if I was trackable, it would match me against the previous times I'd been there.

Or maybe the site is just spouting a load of clickbaity nonsense?

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 hours ago

If you have the cookie from them, they don't count both visits I'm pretty sure.

Non-unique would be if someone else has the exact same fingerprint.

[–] PumaStoleMyBluff@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Yes, your browser is probably generating brand new canvas and other fingerprints every visit, which is a good thing.

[–] io@piefed.blahaj.zone 16 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

here is a fingerprinting test you can trust https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/

fingerprinting is nasty, i suggest canvas blocker extension because it gives them fake readouts

[–] FE80@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Librewolf + uBlock Origin + Privacy Badger + containerise

For the comedy extra point, a user agent switcher can actively lie about your browser & OS.

[–] DupaCycki@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

It should be noted that user agent switchers may break some website functionalities. I guess this is true for nearly all privacy protections, though this is the only one that gave me any noticeable trouble.

[–] blurb@sh.itjust.works 10 points 22 hours ago

uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger shouldn't be paired together. Containers do nothing to prevent your fingerprint from being collected. LibreWolf itself is easily fingerprintable. And the user agent isn't the only telltale sign of your browser and OS, changing it will just make you more unique.

Just use Mullvad Browser with the default settings.

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Using a browser like Librewolf is, itself a unique identifier bc not enough people are using it.

EFF has a tool that lets you check your “uniqueness” and bc I used a lesser known browser, it was easier to track me.

Not that I mean you shouldn’t use it. I just wanted to clarify that it doesn’t make you safe from ads. :(

[–] FE80@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (3 children)

https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/ is the EFF tool.

My results say that I have strong protections against tracking, and that my browser is unique. It's as good as I can get.

The agent switcher also tells the world my Librewolf on Linux is Chrome on Windows.

[–] mirshafie@europe.pub 4 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Isn't it a bad thing to be unique in this context? If my browser is 1 in a million, that means that a tracker can pick me out of a lineup of a million users, no? That's why a captcha can verify you as human simply by checking a box, because it can identify your unique browser as associated with human activity.

If I'm not mistaken, we want the opposite. We want our browsers to be as generic as possible if we don't want to be tracked.

[–] Jyek@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

I would think unique means you appear as a never before seen individual and not one they can identify from their fingerprint history. If you fingerprint twice and both are unique, you are secure.

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 day ago

Thanks for linking it! I should have done that. And if LibreWolf is showing as Chrome on Windows, then you’re good!

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[–] realitista@lemmus.org 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Does anyone know if Firefox's claimed Anti fingerprinting technology is any good?

[–] mybuttnolie@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 day ago

it's useless. test it out with creepjs

[–] Mwa@thelemmy.club 3 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

For me I like to prevent fingerprinting by:
Librewolf(private and less intrusive defaults) + noscript (blocking useless JavaScript) + jsshelter (Javascript sanitization) + Ublock Origin(blocking trackers and ads)

[–] core@leminal.space 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Your fingerpeint is that you aren't fingerprinted. If you think a website is like "Gosh darn it those rapscallions foiled me again! Guess I can't track them now!" You're sorely mistaken. Get a user agent switcher and pretend to be a windows, chrome user to blend in with the rest of the masses.

[–] Mwa@thelemmy.club 1 points 2 hours ago

Good explanation.

[–] Quazatron@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago (5 children)

I'm not looking to be anonymous, I want access to Stargate Atlantis that Amazon Prime is geo blocking from me.

For that, VPN works as advertised.

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[–] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 40 points 1 day ago (16 children)

It's always kind of funny when the Technology folks wade into well-researched and well-worn Privacy territory.

Do you want to not wave a giant flag of your activity to Google, Meta, MS, and your ISP when you do literally anything online? Either use a VPN and Mullvad (or Librewolf, but YMMV) browser, OR a VPN and Tor OR Tor with an https bridge if paying for a VPN will make you a target (Tor bridges are not for casuals, save them for those in genuine need).

VPN locations need to be changed. Frequently. Router level VPN at home becomes your "This is me" location, then make use of VPNs on each device when you want an extra layer of obfuscation.

There's not a lot of middle ground at this point, and it's not difficult.

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[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 73 points 1 day ago (4 children)

The only real advantage you gain is being able to watch things outside your region. Without lots of work, you’re pretty easily traceable on the modern internet.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I remember in 1996 my neighbor was in one of these fancy new things on the internet called a "chat room".

He got into an arguement with someone. It got heated. Until the other guy threatened to show up at my neighbors house.

My neighbor scoffed and laughed.

Then the guy put in my neighbors real address. To this day, that still scares me. And back then internet crime wasn't taken seriously. In fact doxxing back then may not yet have even been a crime.

[–] pumpkin_spice@lemmy.today 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

FYI:

https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/doxxing-free-speech-and-first-amendment

In the US, "doxxing" laws are pretty much state-by-state and many may be violating the first amendment.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago

Today, yes. In 1996 "doxxing" wasn't a term. The internet was so new to people that nobody knew what it could even do.

I'll give you a great example. I remember watching a news report fall of 2000, where K*B Toys was trying this untested idea. Could they use the internet to sell things? The experts said no, and that the internet was a fad. It simply wasn't a medium you could use for commercial things......ebay aside.

In 1996 Google didn't even exist yet. I don't think Amazon was even a bookstore yet. The internet in those days was primitive, and the wild west of the technology realm.

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[–] lol_idk@piefed.social 55 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If the NSA wants you, they will get you. But I can hide from most of you with just a little email relay and a VPN

[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 24 points 1 day ago (10 children)

I can hide from everyone, I just walk into the woods.

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[–] Chivera@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I bought a used laptop from a yard sale and only use public Wi-Fi and never use the laptop for anything with my name on it.

[–] CluckN@lemmy.world 34 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Pfft amateur, I break into my local Applbee’s after 2AM and use their POS terminal browser to look at used cars.

[–] bytesonbike@discuss.online 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Applebee's at 2AM which leaves a physical trail? Noob. I strap meshtastic nodes on wild dogs, using them as a Internet relay at 1-2kb a second, to look at manga leaks.

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 1 points 3 hours ago

I randomly separate by data packages & encode that data into the DNA of various insects & such critters that then burrow down to the tier 1 and tier 2 internets & are trained to transmit that data.

A separate group is standing by at different locations to collect the data & report back to me the results of me signing into my Google account with my full name & billing address as well as the results of by image search for "naked boobs".

There is a bit of ping, but the bandwidth can be scaled nicely.

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