Browser Fingerprinting as user tracking technology

Navpreet Kaur; Sami Azam; Krishnan Kannoorpatti; Kheng Cher Yeo; Bharanidharan Shanmugam

doi:10.1109/ISCO.2017.7855963

Browser Fingerprinting as user tracking technology

Navpreet Kaur, Sami Azam, Krishnan Kannoorpatti, Kheng Cher Yeo, Bharanidharan Shanmugam

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper published in Proceedings › peer-review

Abstract

The Web has become an indispensable part of our society and is currently most commonly used mode of information delivery. Millions of users access the free services provided by the websites on daily basis and while providing these free services websites track and profile their web users. In this environment, the ability to track users and their online habits can be very lucrative for advertising companies, yet very intrusive for the privacy of users. The objective of this paper is to study about the increasingly common yet hardly discussed technique of identifying individual Web users and tracking them across multiple websites known as 'Browser Fingerprinting'. A unique browser fingerprint is derived by the unique pattern of information visible whenever a computer visits a website. The permutations thus collected are sufficiently distinct that they can be used as a tool for tracking. Unlike cookies, Fingerprints are generated on server side and are difficult for a user to influence. The main objective of this research is study about how the fingerprinting was evolved, its positives and negatives, what threat it poses to users' online privacy and what countermeasures could be used to prevent it. This paper will also analyse which different properties the browsers send to the server, allowing a unique fingerprint of those browsers to be created.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of 2017 11th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, ISCO 2017
Editors	IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Place of Publication	Coimbatore, India
Publisher	IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages	103-111
Number of pages	9
Edition	1
ISBN (Electronic)	9781509027170
ISBN (Print)	9781509027187
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCO.2017.7855963
Publication status	Published - 14 Feb 2017
Event	2017 11th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, ISCO 2017 - Coimbatore, India Duration: 5 Jan 2017 → 6 Jan 2017

Conference

Conference	2017 11th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, ISCO 2017
Country/Territory	India
City	Coimbatore
Period	5/01/17 → 6/01/17

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10.1109/ISCO.2017.7855963

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Kaur, N., Azam, S., Kannoorpatti, K., Yeo, K. C., & Shanmugam, B. (2017). Browser Fingerprinting as user tracking technology. In IEEE. I. O. E. A. E. E. (Ed.), Proceedings of 2017 11th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, ISCO 2017 (1 ed., pp. 103-111). [7855963] IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCO.2017.7855963

Kaur, Navpreet ; Azam, Sami ; Kannoorpatti, Krishnan et al. / Browser Fingerprinting as user tracking technology. Proceedings of 2017 11th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, ISCO 2017. editor / IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 1. ed. Coimbatore, India : IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2017. pp. 103-111

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abstract = "The Web has become an indispensable part of our society and is currently most commonly used mode of information delivery. Millions of users access the free services provided by the websites on daily basis and while providing these free services websites track and profile their web users. In this environment, the ability to track users and their online habits can be very lucrative for advertising companies, yet very intrusive for the privacy of users. The objective of this paper is to study about the increasingly common yet hardly discussed technique of identifying individual Web users and tracking them across multiple websites known as 'Browser Fingerprinting'. A unique browser fingerprint is derived by the unique pattern of information visible whenever a computer visits a website. The permutations thus collected are sufficiently distinct that they can be used as a tool for tracking. Unlike cookies, Fingerprints are generated on server side and are difficult for a user to influence. The main objective of this research is study about how the fingerprinting was evolved, its positives and negatives, what threat it poses to users' online privacy and what countermeasures could be used to prevent it. This paper will also analyse which different properties the browsers send to the server, allowing a unique fingerprint of those browsers to be created.",

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Kaur, N, Azam, S , Kannoorpatti, K , Yeo, KC & Shanmugam, B 2017, Browser Fingerprinting as user tracking technology. in IEEEIOEAEE (ed.), Proceedings of 2017 11th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, ISCO 2017. 1 edn, 7855963, IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Coimbatore, India, pp. 103-111, 2017 11th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, ISCO 2017, Coimbatore, India, 5/01/17. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCO.2017.7855963

Browser Fingerprinting as user tracking technology. / Kaur, Navpreet; Azam, Sami ; Kannoorpatti, Krishnan et al.

Proceedings of 2017 11th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, ISCO 2017. ed. / IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 1. ed. Coimbatore, India : IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2017. p. 103-111 7855963.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper published in Proceedings › peer-review

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AB - The Web has become an indispensable part of our society and is currently most commonly used mode of information delivery. Millions of users access the free services provided by the websites on daily basis and while providing these free services websites track and profile their web users. In this environment, the ability to track users and their online habits can be very lucrative for advertising companies, yet very intrusive for the privacy of users. The objective of this paper is to study about the increasingly common yet hardly discussed technique of identifying individual Web users and tracking them across multiple websites known as 'Browser Fingerprinting'. A unique browser fingerprint is derived by the unique pattern of information visible whenever a computer visits a website. The permutations thus collected are sufficiently distinct that they can be used as a tool for tracking. Unlike cookies, Fingerprints are generated on server side and are difficult for a user to influence. The main objective of this research is study about how the fingerprinting was evolved, its positives and negatives, what threat it poses to users' online privacy and what countermeasures could be used to prevent it. This paper will also analyse which different properties the browsers send to the server, allowing a unique fingerprint of those browsers to be created.

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Kaur N, Azam S , Kannoorpatti K , Yeo KC , Shanmugam B. Browser Fingerprinting as user tracking technology. In IEEEIOEAEE, editor, Proceedings of 2017 11th International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Control, ISCO 2017. 1 ed. Coimbatore, India: IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 2017. p. 103-111. 7855963 https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCO.2017.7855963

Browser Fingerprinting as user tracking technology

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