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Can online device fingerprinting tell who you are exactly?

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I understand the basics of Digital Device Fingerprinting, but have a few questions/concerns about how extensive it is, and if this is the end of privacy.

1) Even if you try to protect against fingerprinting now, can’t it be used to trace a device’s fingerprint back through time to determine who you are and every site you’ve been to? How far back could it theoretically go?

2) Could a digital fingerprint be linked to personal login information?
As in, could trackers determine not just your devices fingerprint, but also who you are once your devices fingerprint is connected to site login information? Would a site record each login attempt with a timestamp for example that could later be connected to a digital fingerprint?

Trying to understand how this could all work! Thanks!

Topic

As there are web pages about this.

In reply to Can online device fingerprinting tell who you are exactly?

I’ll skip to how you might thwart or disrupt this. It’s not hard at all.

Run an OS in a Virtual Machine (I use VirtualBox.) Now I can browse in my choice of OS and browser and the hardware looks like whatever the VM provides which will look like every other VM out there.

However if you login to a web site, you gave up who you are via some email address and more so I see no need to discuss that in any detail.

Another option is the TAILS OS. Since what that is is on the web I’ll hit pause here.

Reply To: Can online device fingerprinting tell who you are exactly?

In reply to As there are web pages about this.

The Virtual Machine does seem like an interesting work around, but that would only help you prevent future device fingerprinting, right?
Would it be possible for our devices to be fingerprinted back through time so that everyone’s online history and personal information could be identified? Or is there only so far back you could go with device fingerprinting? Which is why I was curious about site login info for example, if that info can be connected to device fingerprints.

Also, if you created a new email to login to a website, that should keep you protected, no? Unless that website is storing other personal info?

Thanks for the reply! And sorry for my lack of understanding!

There’s an old saying.

In reply to Reply To: Can online device fingerprinting tell who you are exactly?

“The horse has left the barn.”
Read https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/226002/what-does-the-phrase-the-horse-has-left-the-barn-mean if you don’t know this idiom.

As to the question of device fingerprints and logins, I don’t see the concern here as you gave up your anomality at login.

Unless you use a VPN you also gave up your general location.

Let’s be blunt here. There’s not much privacy if you use the web today in a way it would be easy to use. But if you want you can boot up TAILS and be close to anonymous as possible.

[Sonja Hinton]

Reply To: Can online device fingerprinting tell who you are exactly?

In reply to Can online device fingerprinting tell who you are exactly?

Online device fingerprinting is a technique used to gather information about your device’s unique characteristics and configuration when you access websites or online services. While it can provide a lot of information about your device, such as its operating system, browser version, screen resolution, and installed plugins, it typically cannot definitively identify you as an individual in the same way that a username or email address might.

Instead of identifying you directly, device fingerprinting aims to create a distinctive profile for your device. This profile can then be used to track your online activities across different websites or sessions. It’s often employed by advertisers, marketers, and website administrators to understand user behavior, deliver targeted content, and detect fraudulent or suspicious activities.

However, it’s important to note that while device fingerprinting can be quite accurate in distinguishing devices, it doesn’t have the same level of certainty as personal identification. People can use multiple devices, devices can change over time, and some users may take steps to obfuscate or manipulate their device fingerprints, making it challenging to associate the fingerprint with an exact individual.

Note: unrelated link (to hire a hacker) removed by moderator.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Sonja Hinton.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by kees_b.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by kees_b.

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