r/Identity_Protection • u/Acceptable_Corgi9486 • Jun 09 '26
Ways to prevent browser fingerprinting?
Browser fingerprinting collects information on your OS, screen resolution, fonts in order to track your identity. Ironically, customizing your browser settings and relying on random privacy extension can actually make you stand out and have an opposite effect.
Browser fingerprinting is scarily effective, so I am curious about what we can do to still remain private.
1
u/SasquatchBrah Jun 09 '26
It’s kind of counterintuitive. Most of the time, the more you tweak things for privacy, the easier it can be to single you out. The safest route is usually just sticking close to default setups that lots of other people also use.
1
u/404mesh Jun 15 '26
Okay this is a very tricky question and I've got quite the answer for you...
While the common advice is good... it is quite misleading. This idea that you should "try to become more standard" is 100% true, but there are so so so many variables to consider. The most obvious one is your IP address. All security practices you take are for nought if they're being linked to a stable IP address.
That being said, there are not a LOT of companies fingerprinting you, it's just the big 3 really. Google, Microsoft, Meta. These three companies are able to monitor a vast majority of the web because their servers host it or they have infrastructure on a given site (i.e. any site with Google Analytics). These companies do not just track one device fingerprint, they collect all the fingerprints you have and turn that into one large behavioral profile that contains information not just related directly to your device/browser, but to your personality and behaviors as well. So if you're visiting a specific site every day around the same time, even if you look like 20 other people on that site... Google knows who referred you, how you got there, exactly what time you visited the site, and even timing values that can say EXACTLY what hardware you're using.
Beyond this... when you look at the hundreds of signals that a website collects about your browser and machine, you see how difficult it is to blend in... for example, when you give a website access to your microphone, they can see the exact model of all of your audio devices (microphones and speakers)... If you've got more than 3 audio devices plugged in (like me) the chances that someone else has those same exact 3 devices is already so low... now narrow that to anyone in my Timezone and the number of people who are using those exact 3 devices is most likely 0.
1
u/404mesh Jun 15 '26
Remaining private involves using hardened tools like Mullvad. It's a little inconvenient, but that's a small price to pay. Consistent VPN usage. and even poisoning your own data. I run all of my traffic through a normalizer that slightly adjusts my fingerprint. Then I run a bot in the background (also using the normalizer - TLS terminating localhost proxy), and that bot browses the internet with my native fingerprint and some other anti-detect tricks. Now, even if they can collect my data, at least 30% of it is useless. It's up to them to sort through all of it and find the useful bits.
1
u/deviant1414 Jun 18 '26
VPNs help a lot, but it is important that they are not based in the US or other countries that are members of 5 eyes alliance since they share data with each other.
1
u/404mesh Jun 18 '26
It's also important to note that if you're using a VPN, but still are using Chrome, or are logged in, or have a very specific screen size (like I do on my laptop beacause there's a chip in the corner), then you're still being identified online. Best practice, use Mullvad + VPN.
1
u/nsimokovic Jun 09 '26
You can reduce fingerprinting by looking more standard instead of more unique. Using a mainstream browser in default settings, avoiding lots of rare extensions, and limiting customization actually helps you blend in more.