Browser fingerprinting tracks and identifies you based on the unique characteristics of your browser and device. Unlike cookie-based tracking, browser fingerprinting is more invasive, but thankfully, you can protect yourself against it using these methods.
1 Use Popular Browsers With No Extensions Installed
One of the easiest ways to protect yourself from fingerprinting is through camouflage. This works like a charm because of the way browser fingerprinting works; it identifies how unique your browser characteristics are versus everyone else.
In this case, uniqueness is based on different attributes of your device and browser, which are used to create your fingerprint. The more unique your device, device settings, browser, browser preferences, browser add-ons, fonts, and other attributes are, the easier it is to identify you among the crowd.
You can achieve camouflage by using any of the most popular browsers on the market and not installing extensions. The second part is important because the general population doesn’t use extensions (even ad-blockers, though they’re the most commonly used extensions). According to Statscounter, the most popular browsers as of October 2024 (arranged from most to least popular) include Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla’s Firefox.
2 Switch to Privacy-Focused Browsers
The first option might not be viable if you require extensions installed in your browser for a good browsing experience or if your job requires one. The easiest alternative to protect yourself against browser fingerprinting is to switch to privacy-focused browsers.
Examples include Firefox, Brave, DuckDuckGo, and Tor, all of which have built-in blockers for fingerprinting scripts. These blockers allow you to use your browser with any extensions that you need without giving away your identity. But these four are not the only options; there are other anonymous browsers.
3 Use Privacy-Enhancing Extensions and Add-Ons
Besides switching to a privacy-focused browser, another way to avoid browser fingerprinting is to install privacy-enhancing extensions that specifically block fingerprinting. However, keep in mind that the number of all-in-one extensions that can block all fingerprinting methods is limited.
For example, Privacy Badger can only detect and block canvas-based fingerprinting as of this writing. The same applies to the Canvas Blocker extension. The only extension that offers protection against different fingerprinting techniques as of now is All Fingerprint Defender.
Download: Privacy Badger for Firefox | Edge | Chrome | Opera
Download: Canvas Blocker for Chrome | Edge
Download: All Fingerprint Defender for Chrome
4 Disable JavaScript
Many fingerprinting techniques rely on JavaScript to obtain details about your device and browser profile. As such, disabling JavaScript can help block fingerprinting. However, before you do it, this method isn’t perfect because it will break some websites that rely on JavaScript to render content.
If you go this route and face any issues viewing a given website, you’ll need to enable JavaScript again, which can be extra work. That’s why we list this as the last option for preventing fingerprinting.
The steps for disabling JavaScript vary from browser to browser. For instructions on how to do so, check out our article on how to disable JavaScript in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. You can also disable JavaScript in Tor and any other browser.
Browser fingerprinting is way more invasive than cookie-based tracking as it relies on profiling your device specifications and browser characteristics. Because of its nature, browser fingerprinting can be hard to keep at bay. However, you can clamp it down using the four methods above.
