It is the need of the hour to ensure a solid level of security and privacy in your web browsing activity. Websites strive to track you and your data to the best of their ability, but you can take several steps to protect your activity as an end user. Discover ways to stop browser fingerprinting in Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox
Fingerprinting is one of the ways that websites can collect data related to your activity. And in this article, let’s see different ways to stop browser fingerprinting in Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox.
Ways to stop browser fingerprinting in Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox
Fingerprints are metrics by which your device and your online activity can be uniquely identified and separated from all other devices and browsers that access the Internet. When you connect to the Internet, your device will deliver a specific set of data based on the demands of the website you are visiting.
Understand fingerprint data
Some of the types of data that can form a fingerprint are as follows:
- Browser type and version
- language used
- Time zone
- fonts used
- Browser settings
- Active Extensions, Plugins
- Operating System, etc.
When all available data points (some mentioned above) are pooled together, they form a single data set. And using this information, a Fingerprint is generated
It can hold as many available data points, and there is a very small chance that another device will have the same set of details, making it unique, and hence called Fingerprint .
Your digital footprint contains a lot of useful information, which is a dream come true for advertisers and websites that crave and are constantly hungry for user information. This information is then used to show you personalized ads .
Cookie-based tracking is becoming more difficult with the advent of restrictions imposed by web browsers themselves, so advertisers are turning to digital fingerprinting and it’s about time we learned how to get around it. Some extensions and features built into browsers can help us avoid tracking and generate “random” fingerprints to protect our private information. This is our guide on the various ways to stop browser fingerprinting in Chrome, Edge, Brave and Firefox.
One hundred percent protection against fingerprints is not possible, and it is rational that we can expect partial protection against fingerprints, especially from extensions. Here’s how to check the same.
Step 1 : Visit the website that checks if your browser is fingerprint proof.
Step 2 : Click on try my browser .
Step 2 : Once the test is complete, it will display the result. It will also provide a summary of how secure your protection levels are.
The following image is the result of a test in which protection functions are not enabled.
While extensions and plugins claim to stop fingerprinting, we recommend using a privacy-focused browser like Brave for better protection.
At least, based on the test results, the feature built into Brave seems to tick most of the boxes. We will explore more in the later stages of this article.
Stop fingerprinting in Google Chrome and Edge
We have several extensions that claim to stop browser fingerprinting to some extent. These extensions will also work on and other Chromium browsers.
1. Trace – Online Tracking Protection – Trace Extension
Trace is an extension available for Google Chrome and Edge to protect you from trackers and effectively stop fingerprinting to some extent.
Here’s how to install and configure the Trace Extension on your browser:
Step 1 : Visit the page of the . Click on Add to Chrome > add extension .
Step 2 : After installation is complete, click the extension icon on the toolbar and then click Track .
Step 3 : You will now be presented with the main interface of the Trace extension. The protection features will be enabled by default.
Step 4: Click on Setting to explore the extension and its features.
step 5 : In the Tracking Protection Level section, you will be provided with different levels of protection. We recommend keeping it in Standard for most normal users.
Opting for higher levels of protection can end up breaking websites. In case you want to disable the protection features, you can click Without protection.
Step 6 : Let’s now take a look at the ways Trace can protect us from fingerprints. Click on advanced mode .
Step 7 : Now click Protections .
Step 8: Here is an overview of the protection features enabled. These are the protection features offered by the extension against different forms of fingerprinting .
Whenever you have reason to disable any protection, you can click “Enabled” to disable it.
When you visit a website, it tries to collect your fingerprints through multiple requests. Trace protects you and shows the number of requests you have blocked from the site.
2.Canvas Fingerprint Defender
Canvas Fingerprint Defender is a super minimal extension that is available in Chrome and Edge. It defends against fingerprinting generating fake values for the fingerprint, essentially keeping your personal information safe.
Here’s how to install and configure the Canvas extension:
Step 1 : Visit the page of . Click on Add to Chrome > Add extension .
Step 2 : Once the installation is complete, click on the extension menu on the toolbar. Then click on the Canvas Fingerprint Defender extension.
Step 3 : The extension will now be active with protection features effective immediately.
For example, the image below shows how the extension notifies you each time you defends against attempted fingerprinting .
Step 4 – In case you want to disable protection features, you need to disable the extension from settings as shown below.
- Click on the three dot menu icon at the top right > click Setting .
- click on extensions .
- Turn off extension lever Canvas Fingerprint Defender. This will now disable the extension and disable the protection features. Re-enable the option in case you want to re-enable the extension.
3.Privacy Badger
Blocking trackers and ads that track your web browsing activity can stop fingerprinting to some extent. Privacy Badger is a popular Google Chrome extension that helps you block trackers.
Here’s how to install and configure Privacy Badger in Google Chrome :
Step 1 : Visit the page of . Click on Add to Chrome > add extension .
Step 2 : All you have to do is complete the first step to activate the extension and its features.
To explore the extension further, click the extensions menu in the top right corner and click Privacy Badger .
Step 3: The main interface of the extension shows the number of trackers that have been blocked. It has a simple interface and does what it takes to block trackers.
Step 4 : In case you want to disable protection features on a particular website, click Disable for this site .
it comes with an additional fingerprint prevention tool built into its privacy features. This is a much appreciated built-in feature as it does not require the installation of third-party extensions. To use it:
Step 1: click on the hamburger menu in the upper right section of the screen.
Step 2 : click Setting.
Step 3 : Then click Privacy & Security .
Step 4 : These are some of the ways in which Firefox stops fingerprinting attempts. For most users, the mode standard It’s enough. But, you also have two other modes:
- strict mode: It offers a stronger level of protection compared to the standard mode, but it may end up breaking some websites.
- Mode personalized : Select exactly what protection features you want, as long as you know what to deselect/select.
Stop fingerprinting in Brave Browser
Brave leaves no stone unturned when it comes to adding an extra layer of security and privacy for the end user. It’s no surprise that Brave comes with a built-in fingerprint protection tool.
The fingerprint protection tool is part of the feature. Here’s how to use it to stop fingerprinting in Brave Browser:
Step 1 : To set the fingerprint protection function, click the brave shields icon > touch Change Global Shield Defaults .
Step 2 : Brave Shields offers you three modes in which you can control fingerprints: strict mode The mode standard (default) Y disabled.
- Standard: it only allows first-person fingerprinting. This means that only the site you are currently visiting can take your fingerprints and does not allow fingerprinting from third-party sites.
- Strict: this mode blocks all fingerprint attempts, including your own fingerprints. Although this option increases privacy, it can also cause additional compatibility issues with websites.
- Allow all fingerprints: allows the taking of both own and third-party fingerprints.
Step 3 : To disable the feature, click the dropdown menu next to fingerprint lock and select disabled
To re-enable it to the default state, click between sites only
Fingerprinting is a notorious way that advertisers can collect your data, and it’s about time we do what we can to protect ourselves.
We hope that the methods we discussed to stop fingerprinting allow you to do it in different browsers like Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Firefox. Stay tuned for more such guides to improve your privacy levels while browsing the web!
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