Fingerprints taken from all Internet users

[Объединенное Детективное Бюро]

For an unambiguous identification of the user, it is not necessary that he register, he does not need to write his cookies to him - you do not need to do anything that many people who are concerned about their own security do not like. Just look at the data available to any website. Each user who surfs the web has a unique “fingerprint” in his browser and does not even think about it. According to a Panopticlick study, 84% of browsers accessing the Web can be reliably identified. Javascript and Flash settings, system language, browser version (including build number), browser language - there are a lot of computer settings available for study by third-party sites. Due to the fact that there are a lot of settings, and people are all different, the set of settings for almost every user is unique. By collecting such data, the site can "identify" the user, even if he changes cookies or leaves the computer by changing the IP. Potentially precisely such “fingerprints” are the sources of the most massive violations of privacy. If the total share of uniquely identifiable browsers is 84%, then among browsers with Flash or Java installed, this proportion is 94%. Panopticlick was able to find unique identifiers for browsers by examining only 8 variables: - Browser name (includes build number, OS version, language, toolbars installed, sometimes other information); - HTTP headers ACCEPT; - Information on whether cookies are enabled; - Screen resolution; - Timezone; - Browser plugins, their versions and MIME type; - System fonts; - Information about supercookies (various advanced counterparts to cookies like Flash cookies). In reality, there are still variables - using them, it may be possible to refine the results and identify an even larger proportion of browsers. Some types of user machines turned out to be relatively resistant to the methodology of researchers: - browsers with Javascript disabled; - computers connected to the anonymous Tor network; - Mobile devices on Android and iPhone; - corporate computers within the same company, indistinguishable from each other (although there are techniques that can distinguish them). The results of this study mean that, in fact, anonymity in the Network is unattainable not only in relation to government bodies and special services. Almost any user can track an arbitrary site - deleting cookies will not save. However, these techniques do not solve problems that haunt advertisers and other people who are ready to give their soul for user data. Using fingerprints, you can distinguish between two users, but you can’t establish any information about them - preferences, income, favorite sites. The link is not valid

 

[Матушкин Андрей Николаевич]

Thank!