Tracking Browsers Without Cookies Or IP Addresses?

The EFF has launched a research project called Panopticlick, to determine whether seemingly innocuous browser configuration information (like User Agent strings, plugin versions and, fonts) may create unique fingerprints that allow web users to be tracked, even if they limit or delete cookies.

Preliminary results indicate that the User Agent string alone has 10.5 bits of entropy, which means that for a typical Internet user, only one in about 1,500 (2 ^ 10.5) others will share their User Agent string.

If you visit Panopticlick, you can get an reading of how rare or unique your browser configuration is, as well as helping EFF to collect better data about this problem and how best to defend against it."

1 comment:

creceveur

I tested my own browser: "Your browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 486,393 tested so far."

Another reason why I don't recommend to my clients to clean out their cookies and install cleaning software. It really just doesn't matter.

Post a Comment

 
Google is a registered trademark of Google, Inc. This website is not associated, affiliated or endorsed by Google, Inc.