According to a study by Ghostery, a renowned free software provider, over 79% of websites with unique domains have trackers that collect user data. One of the most creative and effective ways is through canvas fingerprinting. This innovative tracking technique allows websites to identify users by examining how their computers perform the task of drawing an image.
To fully understand what is canvas fingerprinting and how canvas fingerprinting works, you will need to consider several different factors we listed in this article.
What is Canvas Fingerprinting?
There are so many web tracking methods, for example, IP address tracking, cookies tracking, browser fingerprinting. And one of the latest techniques is canvas fingerprinting.
The distinction between canvas fingerprinting and other tracking methods is that it leverages HyperText Markup Language 5 (HTML5) Canvas feature to track web user's digital footprint.
Canvas fingerprinting is sophisticated and very accurate. This is the reason why it is considered the number one browser fingerprinting technique. For the record, canvas fingerprinting can be used as the sole tracking method or, be combined with other browser fingerprinting techniques to enhance accuracy.
How does Canvas Fingerprinting work?
Canvas fingerprinting begins when a website gives your browser the task of drawing a canvas object. Keep in mind that the canvas object is not your canvas fingerprint, it’s simply a tool that sites use to create simple and complex graphics alike.
The main thing you have to always keep in mind is that different computers will draw the image in a slightly different way. Even if the produced images look the same to the human eye, there are slight variations that allow them to be differentiated because the operating systems come in different fonts and use different algorithms and settings for sub-pixel rendering and anti-aliasing. And two pieces of information that look the same to the human eye, but have slight variations, will result in completely different hashes. Even the smallest, most minuscule differences will be enough to produce drastically different results.
Canvas fingerprinting focuses on the graphics aspects only. The data it relies on includes:
- Operating system
- Browser
- Graphics card
- Graphics card driver
- Installed client fonts
What makes Canvas Fingerprinting so unique?
What makes each canvas fingerprint unique is not the final image that we see, but how each computer renders hinting and anti-aliasing. Different computers carry out each process differently and come up with different hashes and this fact allows for effective fingerprinting.
Websites that use canvas fingerprinting give all visitors instructions on drawing specific images. But, sending back the rendered image to a website would be impractical. Instead, websites use a hashing function to reduce the size of the data without losing its uniqueness.
When two computers are given the same drawing task, there are slightly different tones of borderline pixels among other distinctions. These minuscule process discrepancies result in an image that looks the same to us, but not websites. Note that scientific studies indicate that computer hardware, drivers, and browser versions can all affect the resulting glyphs.
Pros & Cons of Canvas Fingerprinting
In the digital space, companies, organizations, and even governments are keen on tracking online activity. That is the reason why state-of-the-art web tracking methods such as canvas fingerprinting have been deployed.
Pros
As much as canvas fingerprinting and other online tracking methods may infringe our online security and privacy, they are essential benefits for users in many ways like:
- Content Personalization
- Targeted Ads
- Online Fraud Prevention
- Analytics and Tracking
Cons
Canvas fingerprinting is proving to be the best way that governments and other online spies can use to track all your digital footprint. And Canvas fingerprinting is the biggest enemy for anyone using multiple accounts online because of its uniqueness for each computer.
How to avoid Canvas Fingerprinting?
Canvas Fingerprinting relies on an integral part of websites - the HTML5 canvas element and the canvas has many legit purposes so blocking Canvas is not the solution. We have seen several extensions and add-ons that claim to block canvas fingerprinting entirely. But when you access high-security websites like eBay, Etsy, Amazon..., blocking Canvas will lower the trustworthiness of your account so we do not recommend you to use extensions or add-ons.
Masking canvas fingerprint data with fake parameters requires additional steps, like setting up different browser profiles but web platforms can easily detect masked parameters.
So is it possible to avoid Canvas Fingerprinting?
A possible solution is managing your footprint by customizing each parameter of your fingerprint. You can look for more information in this article.
With Ghosty antidetect browser and Hidemyacc, you will remain anonymous and trustworthy in the eyes of every website, even Facebook, Google, eBay, Amazon, Etsy... Furthermore, you can change every trackable parameter of your profile's fingerprint, like your IP address, Operating System, Browser, Timezone, WebRTC, Geolocation, and 15 more. Hidemyacc software will help you hide original computer parameters and create multiple new computer parameters for each profile, supporting users to access the internet with multiple accounts without being detected. With Hidemyacc, you only need to create profiles, Hidemyacc will do all the rest!
We can't prevent tracking but we can control how we are tracked with Hidemyacc. Download Hidemyacc and start your 7-day trial now!
