[Info-vax] Browser Tracking, was: Re: [OT] Real Usenet clients, was: Re: backups and compaction or nocompaction might be better

[Paul Sture]

In article <kebcpv$6e3$1 at dont-email.me>,
 Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid> wrote:

> On 2013-01-30 11:26:19 +0000, Paul Sture said:
> 
> > Call me a cynic if you will, but I see it as a deliberate policy to
> > persuade people to start using Google Groups, having Javascript turned
> > on at all times, and being logged into Google at all times.
> > 
> > I stopped playing that game when I saw an advert for data centre
> > products in the middle of a humorous article on a tabloid newspaper's
> > web site   That was all the proof I needed that Google were not only
> > tracking my interests but giving me work related ads in my leisure time.
> > ...
> > 
> > A corollary to that is that where you take a laptop or other portable
> > device to work you should consider setting up separate accounts for work
> > and personal use so that the various sites which attempt to track your
> > interests don't serve up inappropriate ads for your context.
> 
> "How unique — and trackable — is your browser?"
> 
> <https://panopticlick.eff.org>
> 
> Often...  Surprisingly unique.

Without Javascript enabled:

"Within our dataset of several million visitors, only one in 59,166 
browsers have the same fingerprint as yours."

With Javascript enabled:

"Your browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 2,662,485 
tested so far."

For those who haven't looked at the site, here's the information it 
looks at:

o - User Agent
o - HTTP_ACCEPT Headers
o - Browser Plugin Details  - lots visible when JS enabled
o - Time Zone - more bits of information visible if JS enabled
o - Screen Size and Color Depth - more bits of information visible if
    JS enabled
o - System Fonts -lots visible when JS is enabled
o - Are Cookies Enabled?
o - Limited supercookie test

The combination of browser plugins, system fonts and time zone is 
probably more unique than you would think.

Incidentally, while I can see a way to remove plugins I no longer use 
from Firefox (e.g. LogMeIn), I haven't yet found a way to do the same 
for Safari.

-- 
Paul Sture