Does the "Redirector" add-on affect your browser fingerprint in any way? (kbin.social)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by ADHDefy@kbin.social to c/privacyguides@lemmy.one

2 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I use it in my normal Firefox setup, but I've been playing with Mullvad browser and I've kept everything to the defaults so I have a good option when I want a little more anonymity without needing the nuclear option (Tor) for sensitive-ish-but-really-not-all-that-sensitive browsing.

I'd like to add Redirector into the mix, and my inclination is that it shouldn't affect the fingerprint because everything is handled clientside from start to finish with that add-on, and the redirect is handled before the browser even connects to the redirected site. With that said, I'm honestly not 100% sure if simply adding an extension of any kind would be enough to change the fingerprint and cause me to lose out on some of that sweet, sweet herd anonymity.

Anyone know the answer to this that can fill me in? I would appreciate it. :)

top 2 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] leraje@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 11 months ago

I speak under correction, but I believe that whilst yes adding any add-on can potentially alter your fingerprint, it's also true that a site has to test for the presence of that particular add-on you've added. I don't believe there's a way to test generally for the presence of add-ons and report back which add-ons a visitor is using.

[-] joyful_hyaena@lemmy.one 1 points 10 months ago

I would also like to know. I've been using Mullvad browser pretty much since it came out and I've always wanted to add the Libreddirect extension but never dared because of fingerprinting. I remember reading a while ago that on chromium browsers, some scripts can detect the mere presence of extensions. I have no idea if that could happen in firefow-based browsers as well.

this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2023

15 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy Guides

16263 readers

1 users here now

In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.

You can subscribe to this community from any Kbin or Lemmy instance:

Learn more...

Check out our website at privacyguides.org before asking your questions here. We've tried answering the common questions and recommendations there!

Want to get involved? The website is open-source on GitHub, and your help would be appreciated!

This community is the "official" Privacy Guides community on Lemmy, which can be verified here. Other "Privacy Guides" communities on other Lemmy servers are not moderated by this team or associated with the website.

Moderation Rules:

We prefer posting about open-source software whenever possible.
This is not the place for self-promotion if you are not listed on privacyguides.org. If you want to be listed, make a suggestion on our forum first.
No soliciting engagement: Don't ask for upvotes, follows, etc.
Surveys, Fundraising, and Petitions must be pre-approved by the mod team.
Be civil, no violence, hate speech. Assume people here are posting in good faith.
Don't repost topics which have already been covered here.
News posts must be related to privacy and security, and your post title must match the article headline exactly. Do not editorialize titles, you can post your opinions in the post body or a comment.
Memes/images/video posts that could be summarized as text explanations should not be posted. Infographics and conference talks from reputable sources are acceptable.
No help vampires: This is not a tech support subreddit, don't abuse our community's willingness to help. Questions related to privacy, security or privacy/security related software and their configurations are acceptable.
No misinformation: Extraordinary claims must be matched with evidence.
Do not post about VPNs or cryptocurrencies which are not listed on privacyguides.org. See Rule 2 for info on adding new recommendations to the website.
General guides or software lists are not permitted. Original sources and research about specific topics are allowed as long as they are high quality and factual. We are not providing a platform for poorly-vetted, out-of-date or conflicting recommendations.

Additional Resources:

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

jonah@lemmy.jonaharagon.net