What is font fingerprinting?
Font fingerprinting can be used to classify a browser. The following article will provide you with detailed information about it.
1. The overview of font fingerprinting
1.1. What is font fingerprinting’s definition?
One of the simplest methods for collecting information on website visitors is font fingerprinting. JavaScript may be used for this, and since you won’t abandon it, your font choices will make it simple for individuals to locate you online. This web monitoring technique seems to be quite challenging for novice users to circumvent.
Simply define, font fingerprinting is a method for identifying a browser. Even if a user doesn’t have any login information available, this approach may be employed to differentiate a browser, for example, to display customized adverts or detect a browser on the next visit(s). This method renders and styles a sample text using the CSS font (Cascading Style Sheets – a design language used to simplify the process of creating a website), and then creates a hash code using various metrics obtained from the sample (i.e. bounding box width & height). The results of this calculation are then turned to hash code for a number of font families. The printing buffer offers a rather decent unique ID because it depends on the browser’s ability to render fonts. (Based on Browser Leaks)
1.2. Methods to identify font fingerprinting
Font fingerprinting is a combination of identifying techniques based on the fonts you use and the way your browser renders them. Websites can typically recognize fonts using one of two methods:
1. Assessing font metrics: Font metrics measurement-based unique identification is comparable to the Canvas fingerprinting approach. As Canvas receives information about the drawn pixels in addition to the measurements inside the bounding boxes, the strategy of employing typefaces is less effective.
Assessing font metrics
2. Fonts list enumeration: CSS introspection is the most widely used technique for obtaining the list of the currently installed fonts on your computer. Simply put, using this method, you may determine the range of your typefaces by determining how wide a phrase written in a certain font by your browser is.
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If the widths line up, the font is already set.
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If it doesn’t, the typeface is obviously not present.
Fonts list enumeration
Websites can determine which fonts are stored on a user’s computer by repeatedly navigating through the list of fonts and sizes that are available.
2. Ways to avoid font fingerprinting
The user can manage modules in some browsers to guard against font fingerprinting. Others don’t provide this capability. To mimic the native functionality within those browsers, you can download a browser extension. In order to change the CSS font attribute and make the fingerprint data less identifiable, a module must do so. There are two widely used techniques for doing this. Certain browsers or extensions output font metrics with random noise (i.e., undetectable disturbances to different metrics like width or height), which would produce an unreliable identification hash code. Some place these noises in arbitrary locations to ensure that every fingerprint is distinct from the one before it. The earlier technique creates a singular id, but because it is “new,” browser information is shielded. Many experiments show that the second option, which generates a random ID on each visit, further safeguards the user.
In fact, websites can also access your system fonts list using Flash or Java Applet plugins. This information is invisibly delivered to a server in the background via AJAX. Consequently, use caution whenever you enable plugins in your browser settings. You may manage which typefaces websites can enumerate with Genlogin’s proprietary algorithm, which counters such techniques. Moreover, Genlogin will automatically produce a random collection of fonts when you create and save a profile. As a result, these fonts will then be shown on the destination websites.
3. Conclusion
In conclusion, we have mentioned some facts about font fingerprinting and some helpful tips to protect your privacy. Stay tuned and keep yourself updated with Genlogin antidetect browser!
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