Why YSK: Websites on the internet often try to uniquely identify your device, this extension attempts to prevent that and make it hard for them to do so.
Why YSK: Websites on the internet often try to uniquely identify your device, this extension attempts to prevent that and make it hard for them to do so.
The approach once worked, but that was back before browsers began including the likes of things like advertiser IDs and other extremely high entropy attributes that no average person would ever think to disable. Contemporary hide-in-the-crowd strategies are mostly curated within efforts like Tor browser where everyone is encouraged to use the exact same configuration. But then it’s still a numbers problem. If only two attendees decide to hide their faces with party masks to a soiree of 100 people, one (large scale observer) only need check the guest list and use process of elimination to determine the identities of the 2% “hidden” attendees.
Somebody can, and probably will, come along and refute this assessment. I am not entirely convinced myself that it is a losing strategy yet. I’m open to hear opposing takes.
Privacy Badger:
IIRC Privacy Badger operates by logging third party domains connections on a per-site bases, and only begins to actively block connections once a domain seen across multiple visits fits the profile of a likely tracker.Nvrmnd, they’ve changed how PB works and it is now closer to a list-based tracker blocker (enumerate badness):
So they’ve since corrected one of the core issues with PB. Still it is weak. To see why, please glance through The Six Dumbest Ideas in Computer Security.
uBlock Origin in advanced mode, with default-deny rules (only allow assets by exception) is going to be much stronger at blocking crap.
Personally, I use uMatrix with pretty much all asset classes blocked by default. I never see popups. I never see banners begging “please allow our cookies, pleeeeaaase!”.