Daily Bits

  • Home
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Advertise

May 17, 2010 By Arnold Zafra Leave a Comment

Browsers Leave “Fingerprints” as You Surf the Web

Common now folks. Is it really possible that as web browse and leave a website, that we might be leaving “fingerprints” behind, enough for hackers to track us as we surf the web? Well, according to the latest research conducted by Electronic Frontiers Foundation, web browsers have digital signatures that create fingerprints that can be used your web browsing habit.

EFF conducted an experiment whereby volunteers were asked to visit the site http://panopticlick.eff.org. This site apparently logged users’ browser configurations and version information anonymously. Information were gathered by the site from user’s OS, browser and browser plug-ins.  EFF’s study revealed that 84% of the configuration combinations were unique and identifiable that leads to the creation of idenfiable browser “fingerprints.”

EFF also found out that there are some browsers which we less likely to contain unique configurations, especially those which blocks JavaScript. Likewise, some browser plug-ins can also be configured to limit the information that your browser shares to the websites you visit.  Unfortunately thought, in general it’s very hard to reconfigure your browser to make your identify less identifiable. EFF suggest that new privacy protections should be built into the browsers themselves.

EFF Senior Staff Technologist Peter Eckersley tells us:

“Browser fingerprinting is a powerful technique, and fingerprints must be considered alongside cookies and IP addresses when we discuss web privacy and user trackability,” said Eckersley. “We hope that browser developers will work to reduce these privacy risks in future versions of their code.”

So, there. Let this serves as a warning for us to be cautious of what browsers we are using and make sure that these offers really offer privacy protection, like what they claim they do.

❮❮ Previous Post
Next Post ❯ ❯

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Topics

  • Android Apps (27)
  • Apps (20)
  • Art (11)
  • Browsers (43)
  • Business (4)
  • Cloud Computing (3)
  • Funny Stuff (63)
  • Games (47)
  • General (633)
  • Health (17)
  • Infographic (5)
  • Internet (353)
  • iPad Apps (14)
  • iPhone Apps (43)
  • Media (103)
  • Mobile (197)
  • Music (5)
  • News (7)
  • Online Video (54)
  • Science (18)
  • Search Engines (39)
  • Security (68)
  • Social Networks (184)
  • Software (69)
  • Web 2.0 (43)
  • Web Tools (100)

Recently

  • 40 Web Tools to Speed Up Your Workflow in 2019
  • Thinking of Starting a Tech Company? Some Tips To Follow
  • Some Ideas To Spice Up Bathroom Décor
  • 3 Ways To Use Social Media To Help You Build Better Relationships With Clients
  • Understanding Capital Gains and Capital Assets For Tax Purposes

Tags

3D printing amazon android Android apps apple apps art cars DIY ebooks facebook Featured firefox gadgets Games google Infographics Internet iPad iphone iPhone app iPhone apps microsoft Mobile mobile phones mozilla music Privacy research robotics robots science science fiction Security social media social networking Social Networks Star Trek technology Twitter video games videos websites yahoo youtube

Copyright © 2019 DailyBits · WordPress · Log in