How Digital Fingerprints Work (And How to Hide Yours)

If you’ve ever watched a crime drama, you’ll be familiar with fingerprinting and how – unless precautions are taken – those pesky personal identifiers end up on everything the bad guys touch.

The online world is no different.

When we think about online tracking, we tend to think of Cookies, but there is arguably a larger threat to our privacy in the form of digital fingerprints – AKA, the Cookie-less Monster. Digital fingerprints don’t rely on Cookies at all. Instead, they are built from small amounts of information that browsers share from the websites you visit, quickly forming a profile that is easily identifiable as you.

Whilst there are positive applications for digital fingerprints, such as combatting credential stuffing and fraud in general, it also leaves you vulnerable to unwanted targeted marketing.

So, what can you do about it?

From VPNs and Incognito Mode to disabling JavaScript, I explore the pros and cons of restricting where your digital fingerprint appears.

Find out more in this explainer video from iluli by Mike Lamb – explaining the ideas and innovations changing our lives.

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Sources and Further Reading:

• This is Your Digital Fingerprint: https://blog.mozilla.org/en/privacy-s...
• ‘Fingerprinting’ to Track Us Online Is on the Rise. Here’s What to Do: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/te...
• Cover Your Tracks: https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/