Knowledge Base & FAQ

Browser fingerprinting is an incredibly accurate method of identifying unique users and tracking their online activity. Unlike traditional tracking methods that rely on cookies (small files stored on your computer), fingerprinting identifies you based on the unique configuration of your web browser and the hardware of your computer or smartphone.

When you visit a website, your browser automatically hands over a massive amount of data to ensure the site renders correctly. Trackers harvest this data—combining your screen resolution, operating system, exact browser version, installed fonts, time zone, and language settings—to create a unique "fingerprint" or hash. This hash can be used to track you across completely unrelated websites, even if you delete your cookies.

A Canvas Fingerprint is one of the most evasive and difficult-to-block tracking methods. Modern web browsers have an HTML5 element called <canvas>, which developers use to draw graphics and text dynamically. Trackers abuse this feature by forcing your browser to draw a hidden, complex image containing overlapping shapes, colors, and specific text.

Because every combination of graphics card (GPU), graphics driver, operating system, and font rendering engine draws pixels slightly differently, the resulting invisible image is virtually unique to your specific computer. The tracker then hashes the pixel data of this image to assign you a permanent tracking ID.

Similar to Canvas fingerprinting, WebGL (Web Graphics Library) is a JavaScript API used to render interactive 2D and 3D graphics. By querying the WebGL API, trackers can extract the exact vendor and model of your graphics card (e.g., "Apple M2" or "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090"). This highly specific hardware information drastically increases the accuracy of your digital fingerprint.

No. This is the most common misconception about online privacy. Incognito mode only prevents your browser from saving your browsing history and cookies locally on your machine. It does absolutely nothing to hide your IP address, your browser fingerprint, or your identity from the websites you visit or the trackers embedded within them.

No. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is an essential privacy tool because it encrypts your traffic and masks your IP address (preventing your ISP and websites from knowing your geographic location). However, a VPN does not change how your web browser renders graphics or what hardware you are using. To defeat fingerprinting, you need a combination of a VPN (for network privacy) and a hardened browser (for device privacy).