So there are lots of ways to figure out who people are, and I am sure I dont know all of them, but I bet I know some you dont.
Lets put together a list of known ones. Ill start.
(If we dont get a big list, which we may not, for bonus points add techniques to ease drop/intercept information)
fingerprinting techniques
- browser (duh)
- encrypted network traffic analysis, see mullvad link here https://mullvad.net/en/vpn/daita
- stylometry, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylometry
This is a pretty interesting video that shows how using leaked personal data like emails and passwords can be used to track down a specific person even when they’re trying to hide themselves online.
I use this website to check my fingerprint. https://browserleaks.com/
It has a bunch - Canvas fingerprinting, font fingerprinting, HTTP/2 fingerprinting and ClientRects fingerprinting
Remember that fingerprinting can be your friend… because it’s much easier to fake an online fingerprint than a real one.
You can generate a unique fingerprint with each online interaction; this means that you will always have a unique identity.
Or, you can ensure you always have the same fingerprint as a large number of other people.
Think of it as the difference between using a different valid loyalty card each time you shop vs using one of the famous numbers that millions of other people are also using.
Of course, in both circumstances, you do give up the benefits of being uniquely identifiable.
The CPUID which is hardcoded in to cpu itself
