What is fingerprinting?
Fingerprinting is a type of online tracking that’s more invasive than ordinary cookie-based tracking. A digital fingerprint is created when a company makes a unique profile of you based on your computer hardware, software, add-ons, and even preferences. Your settings like the screen you use, the fonts installed on your computer, and even your choice of a web browser can all be used to create a fingerprint.
If you have a commonly used laptop, PC or smartphone, it may be harder to uniquely identify your device through fingerprinting. However, the more unique add-ons, fonts, and settings you have, the easier you’ll be likely to find. Companies can use this unique combination of information to create your fingerprint. That’s why Firefox blocks known fingerprinting, so you can still use your favorite extensions, themes and customization without being followed by ads.
The practice of fingerprinting allows you to be tracked for months, even when you clear your browser storage or use private browsing mode — disregarding clear indications from you that you don’t want to be tracked. Despite a near complete agreement between standards bodies and browser vendors that fingerprinting is harmful, its use on the web has steadily increased over the past decade.
The latest Firefox browser protects you against fingerprinting by blocking third-party requests to companies that are known to participate in fingerprinting. We’ve worked hard to enable this privacy protection while not breaking the websites you enjoy visiting. (Read more here, if you want the technical details.)
And it’s not a deep setting you need to dig around to find. In the latest Firefox browser, fingerprint blocking is the standard, default setting. Visit your privacy protections dashboard to see how you’re being tracked behind the scenes and how Firefox prevents it.
You probably wouldn’t appreciate someone tracking your moves in real
life. There’s no reason to accept it online. If you don’t already have
Firefox, download and protect yourself from digital fingerprinting.
Source: https://www.firefox.com/en-US/features/block-fingerprinting/
Overview of Fingerprinting
Fingerprinting is a tracking method that collects various details about your device and browser to create a unique profile. This profile can identify you across different websites, even when cookies are blocked or you are using private browsing.
Firefox has implemented several measures to combat fingerprinting:
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Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP): This feature blocks known tracking scripts and limits the information shared with websites.
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Phase 2 Protections: Introduced in Firefox 145, these protections reduce the number of users who can be uniquely fingerprinted to about 20%. Key measures include:
- Adding random noise to images when read by sites.
- Blocking local fonts, allowing only standard OS fonts.
- Reporting a fixed number of processor cores (always 2).
- Limiting screen resolution data.
These fingerprinting protections are available in:
- Private Browsing Mode
- Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) Strict Mode
Firefox plans to enable these protections by default in regular browsing after further testing.
Users can manage fingerprinting protections through Firefox settings. If a website does not function correctly due to these protections, users can disable them for that specific site while keeping them active elsewhere.
By implementing these features, Firefox aims to enhance user privacy and reduce unwanted tracking online.
Source: duckduckgo.com
Mozilla has announced improved browser fingerprinting protections in Firefox 145 to make user tracking more difficult.
The new effort builds on an initiative launched over half a decade ago and tackles the pervasive and hidden tracking technique that sites have been employing to track users even if they block cookies or use private browsing.
To perform fingerprinting, websites collect specific details about the user’s machine, such as time zone, operating system settings, and graphics hardware information, creating an ID that can be tracked across web domains and browsing sessions.
“Having a unique fingerprint means fingerprinters can continuously identify you invisibly, allowing bad actors to track you without your knowledge or consent. Online fingerprinting is able to track you for months, even when you use any browser’s private browsing mode,” Mozilla explains.
Since 2020, Firefox has been blocking known trackers and other practices through Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) and Total Cookie Protection, and has constantly improved its anti-fingerprinting protections to minimize the information that can be collected about its users.
The newly announced improvements tackle fingerprinters that are not included in the list of known trackers, Mozilla says.
Recent browser releases have improved these protections by preventing websites from collecting specific hardware information, such as the number of processor cores, taskbar size, or the number of simultaneous fingers a touchscreen supports.
“Our research shows these improvements cut the percentage of users seen as unique by almost half,” Mozilla notes.
To ensure it does not break web usability, Mozilla has implemented a set of layered defenses in Firefox to target the most invasive fingerprinting vectors, while ensuring that websites retain the functionality they require to work normally.
“More aggressive fingerprinting blocking might sound better, but is guaranteed to break legitimate website features. For instance, calendar, scheduling, and conferencing tools legitimately need your real time zone,” Mozilla explains.
Firefox users who browse in private mode or use the ETP strict mode are benefiting from these smart privacy protections that work without the need for additional extensions or configurations.
Source: https://www.securityweek.com/new-firefox-protections-halve-the-number-of-trackable-users/
