What is a fingerprint 🔍
Every website wants to know as much as possible about its visitors. Since direct tracking is prohibited, websites try to identify users using additional parameters that are not directly related to a person's identity.
For example, they analyze information about the device, browser, and connection that a person uses to visit a particular site.
The combination of this data is called a "fingerprint" 🖐️
What a fingerprint consists❓
Fingerprint includes many parameters, such as ⬇️
User-agent
IP and data
Canvas
Time Zone
Fonts
Extensions
Plugins
Etc.
More than 50 parameters in total ☝️
Individually, these data will not help identify a user: for example, millions of people around the world use an Asus laptop and the Chrome browser. But the combination of these parameters helps generate a unique fingerprint.
❗️Digital print looks like a set of numbers and letters, for example: 85bd8e90ce6e9b5dd17de985891324ec
At the same time, each resource independently decides which parameters to analyze to form a browser fingerprint.
What is fingerprinting used for 🤔
Websites collect the digital fingerprints of their visitors to:
Protect users from fraud - For example, if the system sees from a fingerprint that a user is visiting the site from an unfamiliar location/device, it may suspect that the account has been compromised. As a result, the account may be frozen and the user will be sent instructions to regain access.
Fight against fake user - For example, if an arbitrageur does not change his digital fingerprint and tries to create several Facebook accounts from the same browser at once, at some point the social network will prohibit it.
Show ads - The digital footprint data: location, language, pages placed, etc., a site can use to show ads or pass them on to other sites. Alas, this information can be used against you. For example, if a marketplace sees that you are visiting a site from a luxury resort, it can automatically increase the price of goods just for you.
How to understand that a site is analyzing a fingerprint 😮
Digital fingerprints are collected by all major websites, advertising platforms, search engines and social networks. No notification that a site is collecting fingerprints will be shown.
Is it legal to collect fingerprints 👮🏻♂️
Unlike cookies, which cannot be collected without the user's consent, there are currently no such requirements for digital fingerprints.
The fact of fingerprint collection itself is not regulated in any way.
How to change your digital fingerprint
The optimal way to mask a fingerprint depends on your tasks and goals.
Manual 👎
To do this, you need to independently replace or disable most of the data that makes up the fingerprint. For example ⬇️
Delete cookies before starting a new session.
Disable Flash and JavaScript. Then sites won't be able to analyze some of the data that makes up a digital footprint, such as fonts.
Disable Canvas. For example, by using CanvasBlocker.
Change the time zone and language.
The plus side of this method is that it's free and more often than not doesn't require any extraneous software. However, you will have to regularly spend time to change the fingerprint. Moreover, since sites are constantly increasing the amount of data they analyze, the user may not consider all vulnerabilities. This means that sites will still be able to recognize him and his real fingerprint.
Anti-detect browsers 👍
These are special programs that allow you to spoof your digital fingerprint and connection. You can set up your own fingerprint yourself, or get an already ready-made one in an anti-detect browser.
The main advantage of these browsers: they completely solve the issue of fingerprint replacement. All the top anti-detect browsers do a great job with fingerprint spoofing, so more often users look at cost, convenience and additional features.
How to check your browser's fingerprint 🧐
To assess how well you have protected your digital fingerprint, use special scanners. They analyze information about your browser and connection and then give you a result.
Let's take an example of one of the checkers - Pixelscan
A popular and quite accurate scanner for checking digital fingerprints.
It is often used to check the quality of fingerprints made in anti-detect browsers.
Here you can already understand by these items what the problem may be, but it is important to realize that if in a personal browser (not in Dolphin{anty}) gives the same errors, the problem is in the device.
If pixelscan is green on the device, but some or all of the items are red in the Antic, here is the explanation:
You are using Chromeversion ***.0.0.0.0 on ***** - If this item is red, you probably have old or incorrect user-agents on your profile (Try to update the user-agent in profile editing, just click on the circle of two erasers near the user-agent field) or change the latest user-agent data to the current one .
For example: From 127.0.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 change to 128.0.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Detected location - most likely there is a problem with proxies\vpn they are either of low quality and skip IPs or they are blocked/suspended on many sites and their blocking databases.
Your IP looks - the same as in the previous item.
If you'd like to use an anti-detect browser to mask your digital fingerprint, note that you can use the promo code DOLPHIN for 20% off 😉 when you make your first payment in Dolphin{anty} 🐬