Am I Unique? (amiunique.org)

Article summary

The AmIUnique website aims to study device fingerprinting across platforms by collecting information about users' browsers and devices. Users can contribute to the effort by installing an Android app or viewing their browser fingerprint on the website. The website collects data such as browser and operating system type, screen resolution, and lists of fonts and plugins. The goal is to help developers design good defenses against device fingerprinting.

Main themes

• device fingerprinting
• browser uniqueness
• online tracking
• privacy
• security
• advertising

What commenters say

• The uniqueness of a browser fingerprint does not necessarily mean it is unique among all users, but rather that it is unique among the collected data so far. Some users are surprised to find that their browser fingerprint is considered unique, even when using a common browser like Brave or Safari. The 'Do Not Track' attribute is seen as ineffective and even ironic, as it can be used to track users who enable it. Randomizing or spoofing browser settings, such as the 'Do Not Track' header, may not be effective in maintaining privacy and could even make a user's browser more identifiable. Some commenters suggest that creating a browser extension to mimic a common browser fingerprint could help evade targeted advertising. Others argue that trying to evade tracking by making a browser less unique could lead to more captchas and other verification measures. The discussion highlights the cat-and-mouse game between users trying to maintain their privacy and advertisers trying to track them. The effectiveness of regulations like GDPR in protecting user privacy is also questioned.