Fingerprinting works by collecting bits of information about the browser and device to identify users. Couldn’t browsers like Firefox see when a website gets such info with JS and either prevent or ask permission from the user for the website to make HTTP requests to upload such information to the website. Idk if they do something like this already.

  • Strawberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 days ago

    once the javascript gets that information from the browser it’s kinda impossible to prevent it from being included in a request without just blocking all requests. It could be anywhere in arbitrarily structured data and/or encrypted

    • TheTwelveYearOld@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
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      2 days ago

      But couldn’t the JS runtime track which objects and variables interact with such information, so if they make any HTTP requests with the info after getting it and maybe processing it then it could be rejected?

      • Strawberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        2 days ago

        It would at least be a very intensive process to do so, and that doesn’t even solve that there would be other ways to glean the same information without accessing it directly. For example, one could create an element with 100% screen width set by CSS and query the element’s size instead of using the simpler window.innerHeight. How do you detect every possible way a script could determine the viewport dimensions?

      • MartianSands@sh.itjust.works
        0·
        2 days ago

        While that sort of analysis probably isn’t impossible, it is computationally unrealistic to do in realtime on a language which wasn’t designed for it.

        It’s the sort of thing which is simple in 99% of cases, but the last 1% might well be impossible. Sadly it’s the last 1% you need to worry about, because anyone trying to defeat your system is going to find them

    • retrospectology@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I think in regards specifically to the question of resolution, that anti-fingerprint setting will start your browser at a smaller, set resolution. The problem is nothing prevents you from just expanding the window, so it’s not a very strong solution in that aspect.