XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-10   
   From: this@address.is.invalid   
      
   On 22-03-2023 23:08 VanguardLH  wrote:   
      
   >> You may be the only person on Windows who has only one browser   
   >> installed.   
   >   
   > You're making up what I said.  I said, again, that Firefox is my   
   > primary, and Edge-Chromium is my backup.  I had Chrome as the backup,   
   > but since Microsoft moved to Blink for the rendering engine and V8 for   
   > the Javascript interpreter, both from Chromium, and because   
   > Edge-Chromium gives me more options than Chrome, there was no point in   
   > keeping Chrome installed.   
      
   We disagree on how to approach a problem where you want to approach is   
   browser by browser by browser by browser by browser, and I don't.   
      
   The randomizing of fonts approach works instantly for all browsers.   
   And it doesn't require any in-depth knowledge of the browser peculiarities.   
      
   > As a matter of fact, most users do NOT install an addition web browser.   
   > They use what was bundled in the OS.  For Windows, that's Edge (now   
   > Edge-Chromium).  For Android, that's Chrome.  For Apple stuff, it's   
   > Safari.  So, for the vast majority of users, they do only have a single   
   > web browser on their computing platform.  It's the only one they need to   
   > configure - but most don't tweak anything of the web browser.  They   
   > don't need the global solution you seek across multiple web browsers,   
   > because they only have one.  But then your inquiry isn't addressed to   
   > the vast majority of users since they don't visit here.  The audience   
   > here is different, so, yes, they may have more than one web browser.  I   
   > have 2 of them.  How many do you have?   
      
   I use all the main variants of chromium & mozilla (such as iron, pale moon,   
   ice dragon, ice weasel, iridium, vivaldi, sea monkey, etc) and then some   
   privacy focused browsers (such as avast, brave, epic, opera & tor).   
      
   The reason is multiple as some do things the others don't but the main   
   reason is that a fundamental component of fingerprinting is the browser.   
      
   > That I have 2 web browsers does not mean I'm constantly switching   
   > between them.  Nor does having umpteen web browsers means I used anymore   
   > than just one of them.  Only one web browser needs to be tweaked how you   
   > like - the one you use all the time.  The others should be left in their   
   > install-time state, because they are backups should there be a problem   
   > with your primary web browser, and a backup choice should be plain to   
   > ensure you aren't fucking it up the same way as you did the primary.   
   > This is the same way you create your own Windows account for logging in   
   > for your dailing computing sessions, and leave Administrator alone   
   > except for use only in emergencies.   
      
   Even if you only have one browser, approaching the problem outside the   
   browser is a better approach in many ways than trying to learn the   
   unfathomable complexities of an ever changing and easily hacked browser.   
      
   > You are still hiding why you need umpteen web browsers for why you need   
   > a global solution that affects all of them regarding fingerprinting.  If   
   > you are a developer then there is a reason to *test* with multiple web   
   > browsers.  You have shown no cue that you are a web developer.  So, how   
   > many web browsers do you have installed, how many do you use, and why do   
   > you have more than one primary web browser?  Why would you be screwing   
   > with your backup/emergency web browsers that you aren't using anyway?   
      
   Those comments indicate you don't understand how fingerprinting works.   
   What part am I hiding if the entire concept is fingerprint avoidance?   
   Are you not aware that the browser itself is a key component of entropy?   
      
   >>> The fonts getting divulged for fingerprinting are those installed on   
   >>> your computer.  Well, you can randomize which fonts you have, or you   
   >>> could pare down all those extra fonts down to the basic set that   
   >>> Windows, or your choice of OS, comes pre-bundled.   
   >>   
   >> That's not as easy as you seem to think it is. Each program you   
   >> install can add its own fonts.   
   >   
   > Yep, you'll have to be the admin of your computer and perform the   
   > maintenance.  You want to setup a rotation of font folders (simpler than   
   > trying to modifying the font files in one folder), so you are already   
   > doing the same maintenance.  For example, you will need to ensure when   
   > installing programs that you reset the font folder rotation back to the   
   > original \Fonts folder to ensure the program deposites its fonts into   
   > that folder into one of your obscuring rotation font folders.   
      
   The maintenance of a background Windows script is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than   
   the maintenance of the myriad switches and dials in a half dozen browsers.   
      
   Just turning off search in the Firefox address bar should be a simple   
   switch, right? It is, but it's hidden and you have to know the intricate   
   complexities of Firefox just to turn the address bar back into what it's   
   called. And that could change at any moment. And has, over time.   
      
   >>> You're denying web sites from falling back to your fonts other than   
   >>> some standard set that everyone has and supposedly would reduce your   
   >>> fingerprint (but do users really only have a basic set of fonts that   
   >>> never change?).  What happens to all your other programs installed   
   >>> on your computer?   
   >>   
   >> That comment indicates you don't understand how font fingerprinting   
   >> works. They tabulate ALL the fonts on your computer. Not just what   
   >> you use.   
   >   
   > Answer the question rather than evade the subject.  You want to rotate   
   > between different sets of fonts (like renaming \Fonts to \Fonts.Original   
   > and some other font folder, like \Fonts2 to \Fonts), but obviously that   
   > DOES affect all your other programs.  You're focusing on how to obscure   
   > font fingerprinting *only* in the web browser without regarding the   
   > effect such action does on other programs.   
      
   There is no effect on other programs.   
      
   Somehow you're seeing UFOs when they don't exist.   
      
   > Oh, and as to web fonting, did you configure your web browsers to NOT   
   > allow remote fonts?  Those can easily be used for tracking, especially   
   > if the site you visit gets those fonts from a 3rd-party, like Google, or   
   > some other font foundry.  The web page you load requests font resources   
   > from elsewhere, so the request for the fonts goes to the font foundry   
   > who redirects the resource elsewhere that can see where you visited for   
   > the request and also your IP address to deliver the font resources to   
   > your client.  You want to obscure all your system fonts, but you're   
   > allowing remote font loading which allows easy tracking.   
   >   
   > https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Per-site-switches#no-remote-fonts   
   > (That's using uBlock Origin, but there's likely other ways to block web   
   > fonts.)   
      
      
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