Your online browser fingerprint can be tracked
If you don’t like cookies tracking your online activity, you should be really worried about browser fingerprinting.
If you don’t like cookies tracking your online activity, you should be really worried about browser fingerprinting.
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If you compare people’s physical fingerprints, they just look like random swirls. To the untutored, naked eye, they even look much the same.
However, a detailed analysis can detect enough unique shapes and patterns in your prints to mark yours out from another person’s so that they can be used to identify you to a high statistical probability of certainty. You may be worried to hear that the same can be done for your online browsing activity.
Browser fingerprinting allows you to be tracked for months, whether you give permission or not, whether you use a private browsing mode, or diligently clear your browser history after every session.
Browser fingerprinting, also known as online or device fingerprinting, uses tracking techniques that websites legally use to collect information.
Websites use sets of instructions, known as scripts, to tell your browser what to do, and are important for their normal functioning, for example by rendering images.
However, scripts can also be used to collect information about how you browse, without you being aware what’s going on.
Scripts can also find out more information about the device you use and its settings, including:
When all of this information is put together, it forms an individual online fingerprint that can be used to track your browsing activity across different websites and browsing sessions.
With all this information, you can be identified from the millions of other internet users, with an accuracy of more than 90%.
You are probably aware of cookies: software stored in your browser that collects data about your browsing habits. That’s partly because laws, such as the EU’s GDPR, have brought them into the open.
You get a reminder whenever you click onto a website and a pop-up asks you to accept its cookies, in accordance with the law.
However, browser fingerprinting isn’t covered by GDPR regulations, can’t be detected and happens without your knowledge or consent. You can always delete cookies on your device, but you can’t delete your digital fingerprint.
Browser fingerprinting can have benign uses. Mostly, the data is used to personalise your online experience and target advertising more accurately.
Online fingerprints can also be analysed to help identify botnets and prevent cyberattacks such as distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, in which high volumes of internet traffic are deliberately directed to a website so that it becomes unusable for genuine visitors.
Banks are also using browser fingerprinting technology to identify suspicious activity online in order to detect potential online fraud.
However, once you’ve been tracked, a profile can be built up of private, even intimate details about your life, such as medical issues, and sold to data brokers.
Data brokers add offline information from public sources, such as your address, and sell them on to organisations that want to target you.
Your fingerprint can also be used by websites for dynamic pricing. E-commerce sites can adjust prices online, raising prices when they identify a customer whose online fingerprint indicates greater affluence.
Without using specialist tools, it’s very difficult to avoid browser fingerprinting. Using ad blockers, privacy settings or a VPN don’t necessarily work; neither does deleting your cookies or search history.
At Syn-Star, we help businesses that rely on their digital devices, especially freelancers and self-employed customers, to reduce browser fingerprinting activity and to protect them from cyberattacks.
We ensure your software, particularly software that protects your IT systems, is regularly updated, scans your devices for anything that shouldn’t be there and train staff to be aware of cyberattack danger signs.
Our telecoms services experts can also introduce your organisation to a virtual private network (VPN). Although not totally resistant to browser fingerprinting, a VPN makes it harder and can protect your identity from hackers by using an encrypted server and hiding your IP address.
If you want to learn more about our full range of services, book a no-obligation demonstration. We are ready to support you.
You can also contact us today and talk with one of our advisors about your business IT needs.
Browser fingerprinting is a technique that lets data brokers sell your browsing habits and personal details to advertisers or online crooks without you knowing.
We take a look at the threat of fingerprinting and what you can do to reduce the risks.
Anne-Marie Blazdell is a Marketing & Communications Manager with expertise in digital marketing, content creation, and IT solutions. With a strong foundation in graphic design, she trained at Farnborough College of Technology and Southampton Solent University before advancing into marketing and business IT support.
Since joining Syn-Star in 2022, Anne-Marie has specialised in crafting SEO-optimised website content, managing social media, and helping businesses navigate the complexities of IT. Her work bridges the gap between technology and business, making IT more accessible and effective.
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