Uninterrupted browsing utilized to beryllium a batch simpler: Disable each third-party cookies, blacklist known search domains, and get an advertisement blocker. But now, online platforms tin prime up connected things for illustration your surface resolution, basal hardware specs, clip zone, and installed fonts to found a fingerprint unsocial to your browser and device. Websites tin query a batch of seemingly harmless information from your instrumentality without prompting immoderate information reaction, which, complete time, they tin usage to trace your browsing activity.
If you genuinely attraction astir your privacy, disabling cookies is nary longer capable to guarantee your anonymity connected the internet. Luckily, browsers for illustration Safari, Firefox, Brave, and others person evolved to reside this problem utilizing much privateness features that costs thing to enable. Let’s return a look astatine really these activity and what you tin do to minimize your integer footprint.
What is browser fingerprinting?
Browser fingerprinting is an precocious search method wherever a website queries infinitesimal method specifications astir your device, thing from your operating strategy to the drivers utilized by your GPU, to create a unsocial integer recognition for your browser. It past uses this ID to grounds your on-site sessions and trace your browsing activity crossed the web, wholly bypassing the request for cookies. And while browsers now see powerful blockers preventing websites from installing cookies connected your device, moreover dedicated information solutions for illustration net information apps, backstage browsing modes, and VPNs struggle to afloat extremity browser fingerprinting.
Unlike cookies, fingerprinting does not require a website to instal files aliases extensions to your web browser. Instead, it uses server-side and JavaScript-executed signals to cod innocuous specifications astir your instrumentality and setup, specified as:
Canvas fingerprinting: A elemental JavaScript bid forces your browser to tie a hidden 2D image. It past hashes the pixel information to uncover circumstantial specifications astir your graphics card, operating system, hardware drivers, and truthful on.
WebGL rendering: Instead of rendering drawings connected a 2D canvas, this forces the browser to render a 3D image successful WebGL, revealing moreover much specifications astir your graphics processor make and model.
Font enumeration: By rendering circumstantial matter strings and measuring bounding container layouts, APIs representation retired the full font room installed connected your system.
AudioContext cues: This processes a silent audio awesome done your sound hardware, creating a soundwave signature that’s unsocial to your device.
Hardware details: Device hardware specifications are considered low-hanging consequence that astir fingerprinting APIs tin propulsion easily. Things for illustration surface resolution, retention space, artillery levels, processor cores, etc. tin beryllium cobbled together to trade a unsocial integer ID.
Checking your ain browser fingerprint
If you’re funny astir what benignant of information your browser mightiness beryllium leaking to websites, Cover Your Tracks lets you tally free scans that show you precisely really exposed you are. You tin besides rerun this cheque arsenic galore times arsenic you want aft adjusting your privateness settings. The tract generates an contiguous study that tells you whether you person cookies aliases trackers enabled successful your browser, on pinch the types of information your instrumentality is leaking that tin beryllium accessed by fingerprinting technology.
For example, scanning my Chromium-based Arc Browser revealed that I was leaking 18.26 bits of identifying accusation including my clip zone, connection preferences, font library, and privateness settings successful the HTTP headers erstwhile accessing a site, arsenic good arsenic a unsocial fingerprint tied to my instrumentality done Canvas and WebGL rendering. This was aft already disabling cookies aliases trackers astatine the browser level.
How to forestall browser fingerprinting connected Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and others
You can’t afloat extremity browser fingerprinting because the exertion does not trust connected a azygous constituent of entree to cod your data. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make it harder for sites and trackers to get to you. Let’s return a look astatine really each browser handles fingerprinting, pinch step-by-step instructions connected what you request to configure aliases alteration manually:
Safari
Apple introduced Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection successful Safari astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic the merchandise of iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma. The institution has besides heavy expanded the characteristic since its original release. As agelong arsenic you’re connected Safari 17+, you tin alteration this opt-in characteristic for added privateness erstwhile browsing the web:
On iPhone and iPad
Navigate to Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced.
Tap Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection.
Select All Browsing.
On macOS
Launch Safari. Then navigate to Safari > Settings from the paper bar.
Click the Advanced tab.
Make judge to alteration Use precocious search and fingerprinting protection and take All browsing from the drop-down menu.
Edge
Microsoft Edge offers fingerprinting protection moreover astatine the lowest privateness settings, without requiring immoderate action connected your part. However, you tin heighten the level of protection by pursuing these steps.
Launch Edge connected your Windows computer, click connected the 3 dots successful the precocious correct corner, and navigate to Settings > Privacy, search, and services.
Look for the conception that sounds Tracking prevention and opt for the Strict action for the maximum level of information from fingerprinting and cryptomining.
You tin besides scroll down to Exceptions to whitelist trusted websites that request search enabled to activity properly.
Firefox
Firefox bundles each its privateness features nether Enhanced Tracking Protection, which covers some fingerprinting and cookies. There’s moreover a privacy.resistFingerprinting emblem disposable for precocious users successful the hidden config page, but that’s overkill for astir regular users and tin disrupt basal functionality connected galore modern websites.
For astir net users, enabling the pursuing features should beryllium capable protection against astir fingerprinting APIs:
In Firefox, spell to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under Enhanced Tracking Protection, prime Custom.
Make judge the boxes adjacent to Cookies and Fingerprinters are some checked. Fingerprinter blocking should besides beryllium group to All windows to widen protection beyond incognito browsing.
For moreover stronger security, prime the Strict action alternatively of Custom nether Enhanced Tracking Protection for the astir potent privateness settings.
Brave
Though it’s Chromium-based, Brave’s developers person gone retired of their measurement to instrumentality strong fingerprinting protection into the browser utilizing the Shields component. This is 1 of the strongest out-of-the-box fingerprinting prevention settings that I person tested, and it's very easy to enable.
Click the lion icon successful the reside barroom of your Brave browser model to entree Brave Shields. You tin besides do this by navigating to Settings > Shields.
Make judge that Trackers & ads blocking is group to Standard or higher.
Fingerprint protection is now enabled. Brave Shields useful by efficaciously scrambling immoderate information collected by fingerprinting APIs, truthful trackers cannot get immoderate accordant accusation to found a floor plan for your browser.
Chrome
Now for the elephant successful the room: since Google shuttered its Privacy Sandbox constituent successful April 2025, Chrome does not connection built-in fingerprinting protection. However, location are respective third-party extensions you tin usage to adhd these features to your browser, pinch caveats.
Canvas Blocker: When a website uses the HTML canvas constituent to create a unsocial fingerprint for your device, Canvas Blocker adds immoderate random sound to the information generated by the canvas constituent to confuse fingerprinting APIs. It’s comparatively lightweight compared to akin extensions because it doesn’t artifact your canvas constituent wholly and alternatively uses subtle changes to confuse fingerprinting trackers.
Fingerprint Spoofer: A overmuch much complete anti-fingerprinting extension, since this besides blocks JavaScript and image-based fingerprinting and tin spoof personification supplier aliases navigator values. It besides wholly replaces the canvas image generated by your browser alternatively of making insignificant alterations to it, which makes canvas fingerprinting moreover trickier.
StealthHound: This is simply a premium anti-fingerprinting hold that stops websites from probing for your hardware details, blocks canvas fingerprinting attempts, disables search scripts, and moreover gives you a consequence awesome to bespeak really aggressively a website is trying to place you. StealthHound operates wholly connected your section instrumentality without sending accusation to immoderate cloud-based apps aliases platforms to protect information sovereignty.
However, Chrome has implemented certain limitations successful its latest Manifest V3 hold framework that impact really useful these third-party services tin be. It now actively prevents extensions from injecting codification into a web page earlier that page has vanished loading, which often gives fingerprinting technologies conscionable capable clip to get what they request earlier spoofing mechanisms footwear in. If you genuinely attraction astir fingerprinting protection, Google Chrome is not the champion action for you. For a Chromium-based browser pinch thorough fingerprinting protection, see Brave.
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