Fingerprinting

[arobinson18]

I don't know if you read the article New Fingerprinting Techniques Identify Users Across Different Browsers on the Same PC https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-fingerprinting-techniques-identify-users-across-different-browsers-on-the-same-pc/, but you should have read it. I don't want people tracking me everywhere I go on the Internet. They don't have my permission, although they think they do. So what I would like to see, is features/instructions on how to manually change what the browser reports when queried for screen resolution, number of virtual cores, list of fonts, etc, as listed in the article cited above.

[New Tobin Paradigm]

This is more or less a false flag situation like most of these TERRIBLE WARNINGS OF BEING TRACKED. Additionally, if a site is reliant on any of the data for display of the site.. Like say the Bootstrap framework (not the extension type) relied on say screen width a VERY large portions of sites would not function correctly.

Simple fact is.. If you visit any remote server it is entirely your choice and are subject to querying the browser for necessary information such as User Agent or screen width.

If you are too paranoid and want a sabotaged browser then perhaps you should consider your usage of the internet.

[Moonchild]

I don't want people tracking me everywhere I go on the Internet.

Let me take you by the hand and lead you to a blog post I made on this very forum quite a while back. The information in that post is just as applicable now as it was then.
BLOG: The Internet is a Public Place
(the gist of it is: if you are in public, they don't need your permission).

[dark_moon]

The test fail if you disable WebGL but if you get broken sites, then you know why.

[half-moon]

I don't want people tracking me everywhere I go on the Internet.

Let me take you by the hand and lead you to a blog post I made on this very forum quite a while back. The information in that post is just as applicable now as it was then.
BLOG: The Internet is a Public Place
(the gist of it is: if you are in public, they don't need your permission).

Just because you are in a public place, it doesn't mean that anybody should be allowed to spy and collect information on you. If being in a public place means that anybody should be able to violate your privacy, let's do away with laws that punishing perverts for taking upskirt pictures in public. We should also:

-Remove bathroom stalls, let everybody piss/shit in full view of each other.
-Do away with dressing rooms
-Have the consumers' credit card numbers and social security numbers be displayed all over the store

I sincerely don't mean to flame here, I'm just offended.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see the post you linked.

[New Tobin Paradigm]

I think we are missing something here.. The type of information isn't very useful to people and we need to be objective about the fact that if you give a website or server false information and it acts upon it for a legit reason then this will break websites. Then people will turn around and say we are breaking more websites.

The problem isn't really the Browser or what info it sends but of the system, the ecosystem, it exists in. We have already seen how fragile the web is even with simple User Agents.. If we start faking screen resolutions, viewport sizes, font support, etc the system won't hold and it will cripple the mainstream web which all use the same megalibs no matter if they actually need it or not.

Also, we can explore the public area thing.. So lets say you are out in public and you wear nike shoes, blue jeans, and a black shirt and someone is tabulating and recording what everyone is wearing and creating a database of people who wear nike shoes, blue jeans, and a black shirt. What can you expect in the form of privacy at that point. Do you want shoes, pants, and shirts that to everyone else unless you authorize it to project you wearing something more generic?

What if this magical thing existed.. Then you go to somewhere that is handing out free stuff to people wearing nike shoes or blue jeans or black shirts.. Then when you don't get your thing you will complain about it wouldn't you? Maybe not.. But if it happens on the web.. You can bet people would.

[Moonchild]

-Remove bathroom stalls, let everybody piss/shit in full view of each other.
-Do away with dressing rooms
-Have the consumers' credit card numbers and social security numbers be displayed all over the store

I sincerely don't mean to flame here, I'm just offended.

And I'm offended that you don't want to think in light of wanting to "win the argument". Use some common sense, man.

The things you quote are all things that are private by design. However, the act of going to the bathroom in a store or using a dressing room isn't. People are still going to know you went to the bathroom or used a dressing room (the public parts of your visit). And in quite a few cases e.g. others can also see what you purchased by walking with it through the store. But they can't see your PIN you input when you pay for it (similar to making a checkout https and without ads).

[deckard]

Solutions born from paranoia are never the best solutions. -MC
First of all, being in a public place means that people who enter the net are not alone. They are visible to a vast amount of people for various reasons.
I am not saying this is good or bad. It just happens. Fingerprinting is a part of this process, but the question could be: "What are the data we do not want to recorded?", "What are the data we do not want any retention of?", "Who do we want to prevent from accessing these datas?" and "Why?".
Surveillance can happen even in places where it shouldn't, and the watchers need to be watched. -MC
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?", Juvenal from his Satires or "Who watches the Watchmen?", Alan Moore from Watchmen.
There's no point in mere winning the argument, respectfully speaking.
Being cautious and aware of the possibility of being tracked and recorded could be a solution instead of doing whatever one might want while hoping his privacy is protected.
These are just opinions of mine, nothing more, nothing less.

Making changes in the options of Pale Moon, like disabling Webgl, for instance, is technically possible, but this does not imply its being a solution one could and would advice.

[arobinson18]

Use some common sense, man.

The things you quote are all things that are private by design.

Okay, let's start using some common sense then. Common sense says nobody has a need to know what browser I am using or what sites I visit for my browser to work on their site. If they ask me, I will tell them it is none of their business, but why ask me when they can ask you instead, since you didn't design your browser to be private by design? Please provide the user with the option of what to say when sites make requests of information, things like my screen size, what fonts I have installed on my system, what my time zone is, what the hash of my canvas is, etc.

[half-moon]

Use some common sense, man.

The things you quote are all things that are private by design.

Okay, let's start using some common sense then. Common sense says nobody has a need to know what browser I am using or what sites I visit for my browser to work on their site. If they ask me, I will tell them it is none of their business, but why ask me when they can ask you instead, since you didn't design your browser to be private by design? Please provide the user with the option of what to say when sites make requests of information, things like my screen size, what fonts I have installed on my system, what my time zone is, what the hash of my canvas is, etc.

Off-topic:
You misquoted that post since I didn't say those things.

Actually Pale Moon is very privacy friendly and there is a built in option to scramble data used by canvas fingerprinting tech.