The issue with browser fingerprinting is that it is probabilistic in nature. It appears at a treasure trove of information to trace you on-line, not any particular person piece of knowledge. A VPN, as an example, can cover your IP handle and make you seem in a special location. If sufficient of the opposite knowledge in your fingerprint is constant, nonetheless, it could actually nonetheless be used to trace you. Your IP handle could also be completely different, however nearly all the things else about your searching will not be.
There could also be sensible use circumstances for fingerprinting, however you actually don’t have a lot say within the matter. Even with protections just like the GDPR, the second you load a web site, there are possible a couple of dozen (if no more) trackers copying the knowledge your browser shares for their very own functions. Providers like Fingerprint leverage that data to create an identifier, however make no mistake, the information is all the time there.
The right way to Get Round Browser Fingerprinting
You possibly can’t get round browser fingerprinting, at the very least not with out important compromises to your searching expertise (extra on that later). Even when you had been to spoof or obfuscate each piece of information your browser sends alongside, that’d most likely work in opposition to you. The aim with avoiding fingerprinting is to change into a Jane Doe on-line; you wish to disappear within the crowd, so each piece of information that makes you stand out sends up a crimson flag.
The easiest way to combat again in opposition to fingerprinting is to cover or rotate sufficient data in order that it’s harder to trace you, not unimaginable. And that begins with a VPN, although it doesn’t make you absolutely nameless. The clearest on-line fingerprint you allow is your IP handle and bodily location, and VPNs cover each. Extra importantly, most of the finest VPNs at the moment embody extra instruments to fight fingerprinting.
ProtonVPN, which is what I take advantage of myself, contains NetShield to dam trackers, adverts, and malware. It doesn’t forestall fingerprinting, however NetShield can at the very least seize and block requests from well-known trackers to make you a bit extra personal on-line. NordVPN has an identical function, as does Surfshark.
Probably the most sturdy model of such a blocker comes from Windscribe. By means of its browser extension, you are able to do issues like rotate your browser’s person agent to make it seem as when you’re utilizing a special browser, in addition to spoof your language, time zone, and GPS data to match the VPN server you’re related to. Once more, this is not going to make you absolutely nameless on-line. However an extension just like the one Windscribe provides makes monitoring your fingerprint harder.
