browser fingerprinting

I don't understand the concept of browser fingerprinting. is every device in the world unique? For example, if I have a dell latitude 5531 laptop and I am sitting in a coffee shop using the wifi and someone else also has a dell latitude 5531 laptop using the same wifi, can google tell the difference between these 2 devices? or they would have the same fingerprint?
If I change my operating system, would google still be able to tell this is the same laptop?

orenew said:

I don't understand the concept of browser fingerprinting. is every device in the world unique? For example, if I have a dell latitude 5531 laptop and I am sitting in a coffee shop using the wifi and someone else also has a dell latitude 5531 laptop using the same wifi, can google tell the difference between these 2 devices? or they would have the same fingerprint?
If I change my operating system, would google still be able to tell this is the same laptop?

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It’s called device id if we simplify it.

so as you social security number, you can have a twin, all data is the same except the authorization numbers such as the social security number.

orenew said:

can google tell the difference between these 2 devices

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Yes it can. The chances are that you have differences in your setup, like system language (affects navigator and http headers), graphics driver version (affects WebGL), OS version (machines might draw fonts differently on Windows). If one of you uses headphones - it is also visible. The battery levels of your laptops are also visible.

orenew said:

If I change my operating system, would google still be able to tell this is the same laptop?

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Likely not. At least it won't flag it as such (if you have different IP and cookies ofc).

kavo said:

Yes it can. The chances are that you have differences in your setup, like system language (affects navigator and http headers), graphics driver version (affects WebGL), OS version (machines might draw fonts differently on Windows). If one of you uses headphones - it is also visible. The battery levels of your laptops are also visible.


Likely not. At least it won't flag it as such (if you have different IP and cookies ofc).

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hello,
what if I don't change the operating system but factory reset it? for example windows 7 to windows 7? can they tell it's the same laptop?

devices may be the same, but 98% of browsers are unique. read for more information.

https://www.google.com/search?q=canvas+fingerprinting+what+is+this

orenew said:

I don't understand the concept of browser fingerprinting. is every device in the world unique? For example, if I have a dell latitude 5531 laptop and I am sitting in a coffee shop using the wifi and someone else also has a dell latitude 5531 laptop using the same wifi, can google tell the difference between these 2 devices? or they would have the same fingerprint?
If I change my operating system, would google still be able to tell this is the same laptop?

Click to expand...

There is all sorts of electronic hardware parts inside your laptop and each piece of hard ware will have MAC addresses etc.. This is something or a way they can tell a certain device is on the internet even if the IP address has been changed..

orenew said:

can they tell it's the same laptop?

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I don't know what factory reset does (Is it a reinstall?). There is a thing called telemetry, used by Google Chrome. I'm not an expert in this department, you should ask those who work with virtual machines, but it is thought as Chrome sends some of you machine parameters to their servers. Some registry keys, Windows UUID, so they know who installed the app and has its unique id. In theory they can collect your hardware info (just check what CPU-Z and GPU-Z know about your system).
But is this used for fingerprinting - we do not know. Also, using antidetect Chrome or just switching to Firefox eliminates this. And just changing gpu drivers, os language, screen resolution might do the thing with bare Firefox, without the OS reset.
Though some additional effors must be made regarding proxies and WebRTC. You should just play with websites like amiunique, browserleaks & pixelscan. There are many extensions out there that can help with spoofing some values.
You should make your own research.

orenew said:

I don't understand the concept of browser fingerprinting. is every device in the world unique? For example, if I have a dell latitude 5531 laptop and I am sitting in a coffee shop using the wifi and someone else also has a dell latitude 5531 laptop using the same wifi, can google tell the difference between these 2 devices? or they would have the same fingerprint?
If I change my operating system, would google still be able to tell this is the same laptop?

Click to expand...

you can see the unique install of the browser. the GPU even your computer has. All of this is whats randomized and changed by browser software for multi accounts. but yes it's all fingerprinted which nullifies VPNs and IPs. theres many ways to fingerprint. its a computer science issue. basically the goal is to get so many false positives that it will pass as it looks 80 percent plus like a real user which they can't algorithmically ban as that would auto ban everyone.

Basically yes, your computer has a unique ID even if you restore it or re install windows or anything on it they will identify it, there are diferent methods to hide your privacy, dns, vpns, proxies, private web browsers, you can also use a virtual machine to access the web browser and keep certain details private or use a different OS in your virtual machine, kali linux also has a undercover method but yeah everything depends in how much you want to hide your finger printer with kali linux requires knowledge about what you are doing but there is a lot of documentation about it.

Browser fingerprinting is a technique used by websites and online services to collect information about a user's device and browser, which can be used to create a unique identifier for that user. Every device and browser combination has a unique fingerprint based on various factors such as browser version, screen resolution, installed fonts, plugins, and more. Note that it is unique like a human fingerprint. While two devices of the same make and model may share some similar characteristics, they are unlikely to have the exact same fingerprint.

So, in your example, even though two users have the same Dell Latitude 5531 laptop model and use the same Wi-Fi network, their browser fingerprints can vary depending on other factors like installed software, settings, and browsing history rather different.

If you change operating systems, your browser fingerprint may also change. This is because the new operating system will have its own unique set of system fonts, installed plugins, and other characteristics that contribute to your new fingerprint. However, other factors such as your hardware configuration and browser version may remain the same, so your new fingerprint may have some similarities to the old one