Questions tagged [fingerprinting]

A browser fingerprint comprises information obtained about a browser during normal use. Fingerprints can fully or partially identify individual users or devices even when cookies are turned off.

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Tor mobile browesr fingerprint

The desktop version of Tor is always preferred over the mobile version. Question: what does mobile app Tor leak about the user that the desktop doesn't leak? For example, one thing I noticed is lack ...
1 vote
1 answer
70 views

Possible fingerprinting for tiling window managers

Could tiling window managers fingerprint users and render letter-boxing useless? Tiling WM change and resize windows suddenly and move them around in a grid. The resize behavior is different than the ...
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61 views

Torben attack mitigation and prevention

The full name of the research paper is "Torben: A Practical Side-Channel Attack for Deanonymizing Tor Communication". Link This is subtype of website fingerprinting attack that uses traffic ...
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1 answer
91 views

Does Tor allow canvassing?

On some websites certain scripts must be temporarily allowed in order to get past the captchas. After I get past the captcha I disable those temporary permissions. When doing that I see the allow/...
6 votes
2 answers
6k views

Will disabling caching in Tor Browser increase anonymity, or decrease it?

I have stumbled upon the idea of disabling cache - completely. On one hand, I am thinking that due to having to load all elements afresh when visiting a page, I appear more like a fresh 'New Identity' ...
0 votes
1 answer
770 views

Tor Browser Bundle failing userAgent spoofing

Using Tor Browser Bundle, I noticed the latest versions I have (9x) did not show user agent in the general.userAgent.override entry in about:config. The browser was downloaded from the Tor Project and ...
2 votes
2 answers
152 views

Resolution to prevent fingerprinting 1 pixel off?

Tor Browser is using letterboxing to prevent fingerprinting by screen size. Now, I have done a test on Cover Your Tracks website from EFF and the results show a unique fingerprint and the reason for ...
3 votes
2 answers
445 views

Tor vs Brave - which is technically more effective to hinder user tracking - fingerprint generalization or randomization?

TOR's method to countering fingerprinting is to make as many users "appear the same" as possible, let us call this to "generalize". While Brave tries to randomize all fingerprints of each and every ...
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

Tor browser's default theme uses os's color scheme. Is it fine? Can this be used for fingerprinting?

Tor browser's default theme uses os's color scheme. Just like firefox. If os is set to dark grey colors lets say, tor uses the same palette. If os is set to shades of black, tor uses the same palette ...
3 votes
2 answers
1k views

how to send email anonymous from Gmail

If I send email from gmail account using Tor browser with VPN connection can my identity be anonymous? can anyone find me out by tracking my email?
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

Does Tor Browser get a unique fingerprint with JavaScript, even if HTML5 Canvas data is blocked (amiunique.org)?

Tor Browser settings Security slider is on "Safest" JavaScript is enabled (otherwise no Canvas fingerprint possible by site) "Extract Canvas Data" is blocked: Issue amiunique....
6 votes
4 answers
35k views

Tor browser user-agent strings

What is the current user-agent string(s) of the Tor browser? What user-agent strings has the Tor browser (and older Tor software) used in the past?
1 vote
4 answers
10k views

Is manually resizing the Tor window dangerous?

The default Tor windows size (500x1000) I find too small and I would like to make it bigger. I understand that making Tor full screen is dangerous, as full screen resolution is device dependent, ...
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1 answer
217 views

Does Firefox in VM have a common enough fingerprint so I don't need tor browser?

I want to know about what a web browser's fingerprint like in a VM, if VM runs a common OS and have default system settings. Can VM be configured to not have any of host machine's fingerprint? Here ...
2 votes
1 answer
97 views

Is there a list of API's that TOR browser blocks

I was looking for some kind of documentation on what API's and scripts does the TOR browser blocks (mainly as a defense for fingerprinting). I have come across the Design and Implementation document ...
2 votes
4 answers
708 views

Knowing all differences between Tor browser and normal Firefox to foil Tor detection techniques

Tor beside anonymizing our location also make us unique as very few users actually use it on each webservice. question is in what ways destination sites can detect Tor browser? for instance canvas ...
1 vote
1 answer
487 views

Brave Browser's Bundled Tor reveals browser through search, is this a privacy issue?

Description When using private window Tor mode I was surprised to see that Brave passes a browser identifier in the url of the search. It seems having &t=brave in the url makes identifying the ...
8 votes
5 answers
12k views

Have Tor appear to be a different browser

I was wondering is there a way to fool websites into thinking that I am using another browser instead of what I'm really using, Tor Browser. Say I wanted example.com to see me connecting to them using ...
1 vote
0 answers
51 views

What could be the cause for strange size(s) of TorBrowser window?

I tested my TorBrowser with websites like panopticlick. Then downloaded and installed a 2nd TorBrowser to test against. a) the window size is supposed to be a multiple of 100. but I get slightly ...
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105 views

How does Tor protects from the list of Digital Finger Print

I have heard that Tor protects users from sites that try to fingerprint browsing history with its integration of NoScript. But it's not completely secure as some researchers claims. Does Tor really ...
1 vote
1 answer
4k views

Why does Tor Browser screen size vary across monitors?

When opening Tor Browser on a laptop, the screen size reported on panopticlick is 1000x700x24 with a fingerprint of 1 in 15,000, which is not bad, I guess. Re-opening Tor Browser with an external ...
6 votes
3 answers
6k views

Random user agent in Tor Browser

I am currently using a Firefox Add-on which generates a random user agent string from a large list of user agents. I am trying to protect myself from organisations and governments with a lot of ...
0 votes
1 answer
370 views

Tails v3.7 using VM = user agent Windows 7?

I'm trying to use Tails v3.7 via virtual machine. I've already tried VirtualBox, and VMware. And everything is OK, but..... when I've visited website https://2ip.ru to check my IP-address, I've ...
0 votes
1 answer
141 views

I don't have an account on Flickr. Why am I shown as logged into Flickr on a fingerprinting website?

If I visit https://browserleaks.com/social using the Tor Browser, I am shown as somehow logged into Flickr. I don't even have a Flickr account. In addition to the above, visiting the same site on a ...
1 vote
0 answers
59 views

Is the default low security level dangerous? [duplicate]

The default level is set to low which ensures compatibility with most sites and technology but is it dangerous for security and/or for anonymity?
2 votes
1 answer
263 views

Does Tor bundle discards cookies from a window or only from a session?

So in firefox privacy mode afaik once you close a private window all cookies and other information related to the sites in that window are deleted independently of any data on the regular firefox ...
1 vote
0 answers
372 views

Tor fonts not displayed in Panopticlick

Panopticlick detects no fonts on my Tor browser. The standard should be Wingdings2 and Wingdings3. I have disabled incognito mode and added Self-destructing cookies, uBlock Origin and changed the ...
2 votes
0 answers
445 views

What are these packets sent from my Tor client at irregular intervals during a download?

I am comparing two traffic instances using Wireshark: one using Tor and the other not using Tor. In both instances, the user requests the HTML document of a web page. In both instances I first ...
2 votes
0 answers
112 views

Is it possible to get some fingerprinting protection features of TBB in regular Firefox for non-Tor browsing?

I'd like to prevent Firefox from reading canvas, for example. As far as I understand, this is functionality of Tor Button extension which is part of Tor Browser Bundle, but it implies using Tor. What ...
0 votes
1 answer
4k views

Tails added Ublock Origin is this as bad as it looks?

From my understanding Ublock Origin in Tails will add to the fingerprinting(websites can tell) and it opens up a new attack vector. The filters if compromised could add javascript to any website. Also,...
0 votes
2 answers
322 views

Canvas fingerprinting: default to never for all websites

Since it is clear that one does not want canvas fingerprinting, is it possible to set this as the default and avoid the popup?
1 vote
2 answers
657 views

Should I change the timezone of my laptop to UTC?

I understand the Tor Browser uses the UTC timezone but what about the tor daemon? Should I change the timezone on my ubuntu laptop to UTC to help make my tor traffic less fingerprintable? It wouldn't ...
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Most common TOR browser configuration - panopticlick

Yesterday I put some effort into getting the best "score" I can on Panopticlick. The following is my result: I did several things to get the lowest numbers for "unique in x browsers". I looked up ...
3 votes
3 answers
333 views

If my web browser is fingerprintable (say, odd window size/screen resolution), who gets to see it?

Does browser fingerprinting leak data only to the server that is answering my request, or also to my ISP or other network-level eavesdropper? Assuming HTTPS (HTTP should leak to the HTTPS "leak set" ...
4 votes
1 answer
388 views

Nature of HTML5 Canvas fingerprinting

I am something of a layperson, and have two questions regarding HTML5 Canvas fingerprinting. As I understand it, it allows the site to extract certain hardware and software information about the ...
2 votes
2 answers
270 views

Are there Tor modifications that do NOT expose uniqueness?

Add-ons like Flash and VLC and others are more obvious, and the general notion stands that “any add-on is a risk to make your online fingerprint unique”, but I'd still like to think a simple ...
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

How can I check if a Firefox plugin is a deanonymization threat?

There are many useful Firefox plugins and extensions that are compatible with the Tor Browser Bundle - how do I know which ones are safe to install without compromising my Tor anonymization?
1 vote
0 answers
30 views

Can Firefox & Tor (on the same machine) be *seen* as the same machine? [duplicate]

Assuming a standard Win7 machine with Firefox and Tor, all auto-updated. Firefox has VLC, Silverlight, Acrobat, and OpenH264 plugins, but also locked down a tiny-bit with NoScript, HTTPS everywhere, ...
2 votes
1 answer
449 views

Do 'window.innerWidth' and 'window.innerHeight' in CSS pass back the values to the webserver?

I have JavaScript turned off, and so no leakage of screen resolution to Panopticlick.eff.org fingerprint testing tool. However, JonDonym's one - ip-check.info - has an alarming-looking vector down ...
-1 votes
1 answer
79 views

Can't find the Tails subkey!

I know I've seen it somewhere but now I can't find it. Why aren't the subkeys displayed on the same page as the primary key here???: https://tails.boum.org/doc/get/trusting_tails_signing_key/index.en....
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

How to import Tor Browser profile

To make a Tor Browser from Firefox ESR there are many settings should be changed for the about:config, so can I have a way to change these values in a shorter time or can I directly use Tor Browser in ...
2 votes
3 answers
1k views

Why does Panopticlick tell me the new Tor Browser is unique?

As soon as I download the new Tor Browser, I go to https://panopticlick.eff.org/ to see how anonymous I am. But right after a new Tor Browser release, it always tells me I'm unique! Why? I thought ...
5 votes
1 answer
5k views

Is it safe to resize Tor Browser window with JavaScript disabled completely?

Recent Tor Browsers (as of writing, current stable version is 3.6.5) resize the browser window to a multiple of 200x100 pixels on opening. I understand this is to reduce the chances of a user being ...
2 votes
1 answer
375 views

Tor TLS cipher suite negotiation and fingerprint defense

In reading this bug I can see that, in the past, Tor has been fingerprinted based on the cipher suites negotiated in the initial TLS handshake. Originally it looks like a copy of the cipher suites in ...
1 vote
2 answers
5k views

Can an IP address get you caught?

We need to use java scripts on some sites because we need them in order to get the task done. Suppose some site get my real IP address by using some java script attack, then how dangerous it can be? ...
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Is Ubuntu amnesic like Tails?

Is using ubuntu amnesic as Tails and therefore prevent fingerprinting? Can I use ubuntu as an alternative to Tails? I think ubuntu too only use the RAM and destroy all memory after shutting down, and ...
7 votes
3 answers
908 views

Using Tails, is one identified as Tails user or as general Tor user?

Tor users can be identified as Tor users one way or the other. Now Tails users are subset of Tor users. Can this subset be identified as Tails users? Or this subset can not be distinguished from other ...
3 votes
1 answer
136 views

what is the Rendezvous point identity ID

I am currently reading the specification for rendezvous point and one little point has got me confused. When constructing a packet to send to from Alice's OP to Introduction Point it asks for the ...
2 votes
2 answers
5k views

How to use a common screen size?

Using the Tor Browser, one thing I've noticed while looking at the EFF's Panopticon browser fingerprinting tool is that the screen size reported matches the dimensions of the browser window. While ...
1 vote
2 answers
189 views

Minimizing risks of fingerprinting

Assuming the latest Tor bundle is being used, what additional steps could be taken to reduce the ease of some attacker connecting the dots among fingerprint data and getting closer to an identity? ...