How to remove ‘canvas fingerprinting’

A huge number of websites are embedded with a media web-tracking technology , one that has hit the headlines recently is AddThis, which allows web pages to track our online activities, and monitor what we share on Facebook and Twitter, etc. Our data is collected, such as system fonts, and also reveals the browser we are using. This information is sold onto advertising companies who in turn, direct ads, news articles and other content they think will be of interest to us.  Research carried out by a group from Princeton University, and Belgium’s KU Leuven University found that 5 per cent of the top 100,000 websites, including whitehouse.gov use canvas fingerprinting.

For a list of affected sites visit the KU Leuven site.


What does it do?
Canvass fingerprinting is an ingenious piece of technology, but it’s also pretty scary and is invading our right to privacy. If you browse internet sites, you will have undoubtedly seen ‘enable cookies’ pop up on the web page, cookies allow companies to monitor your browsing activity as well as providing you a better-browsing experience. Cookies can be controlled by using the incognito mode or private browsing mode on your computer, but this will only remove the information from your computer and not the server.

You can turn cookies off, but bear in mind that you may not be able to enter other sites. Check out this Wiki article which explains how you can disable cookies on a number of different platforms.
Whereas cookies can easily be controlled, canvas fingerprinting, whilst not impossible to remove, takes a little more effort to manage.

Each of us have our own blank canvas, and our internet browser, it could be Chrome, Safari,  Internet Explorer or Firefox, draws an image on our canvas. I have one; you have one, it’s unique to each computer, so companies can recognize each person, individually. The image, complete with information, is sent back to the website, a number is assigned to your computer, so ads can be delivered to you.

Advertising companies want to know your spending habits,  what you’re interested in – it’s a huge money maker, so they deliver tailor-made marketing ads and information to you using this technology. By directing ads to us that they hope we will be interested in, they in turn charge the advertisers more money – so everyone is happy, right?  Well, maybe some of you may find these ads of use (do you really?!) but also, many of us see this as an invasion of privacy, especially when this new-sly technique is a lot harder to remove and also detect.  It’s not visible in plain sight that has made many people very concerned that yet another company is collecting our data in such an underhanded manner.  We all love to share, tweet, post on Facebook our thoughts, and opinions and jokes, and of course pictures of cats, but now it appears that we are paying for this ‘privilege’ with our data.

Canvas fingerprinting, is more resilient than cookies but not impossible to remove
You cannot simply remove canvass fingerprinting by deleting cookies, or not accept them because it resides on your browser. But the good news is that you can avoid this type of detection.  You can use NoScript, a Firefox web extension, and also download privacy extension Chameleon.
Check out Design and Technology blog Gizmodo for other ways to control canvas fingerprinting.
It’s also a good idea to use the widget AdBlock Plus and stay in private or incognito mode whilst browsing the web, and also don’t forget to use HMA! Pro VPN whilst connected to the internet which will add an extra layer of privacy protection.

For more information about canvas fingerprinting, check out this article from PC World.
Of course, it’s your data, it’s your decision as to whether you block or accept canvass fingerprinting and also cookies, but it’s good to know that you have a choice.

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