Brave Browser Enhances User Privacy by Generating Random Fingerprints

The developers of the Brave browser have announced that they are working on a feature that will randomly generate a new “fingerprint” each time a user visits a website. This innovation aims to improve user privacy, as advertisers and analytics companies are increasingly tracking people not through cookies, but by using browser fingerprinting techniques.

Browser fingerprinting involves collecting a wide range of technical details about a user, their system, and their browser. This can include information about the operating system, browser type and version, hardware specifications, installed fonts, screen resolution, and much more. The resulting “fingerprint” can be used to effectively identify and track users as they move across the web.

The landscape for advertisers and analytics companies changed in May 2019, when Google announced plans to start blocking third-party cookies used for tracking. Throughout 2019, advertisers and analytics providers began adapting to these changes, which were implemented with the release of Chrome 80. As a result, fingerprinting has now become the primary method for tracking users online.

How Other Browsers Have Responded

Firefox was the first major browser to address this growing issue by adding a fingerprinting protection setting that blocks attempts to collect browser fingerprints. Apple followed Mozilla’s lead a few months later, but took a different approach by making Safari return identical values for certain data points, such as fonts.

However, according to Brave’s developers, these approaches are not fully effective. “Unfortunately, despite good intentions, none of these methods can be considered truly effective at preventing fingerprinting,” they wrote. “The vast variety of fingerprinting techniques in modern browsers makes all these ‘blockings,’ ‘fake data,’ and ‘permissions’ insufficient and ineffective.”

Brave’s Unique Approach

Brave’s solution is different. Their approach is designed so that each browser appears completely unique on different websites and during different sessions. By constantly changing the browser’s appearance, websites are unable to build accurate user profiles, making it much harder to track individuals effectively.

This feature is already active in Brave Nightly versions, with a wider release planned for later this year. Technical details about how the fingerprint randomization works are available on the Brave website. There is also a demo site where users can test this feature in Brave Nightly and other browsers.

Additional Privacy Measures

Previously, the Brave team announced plans to roll out a system that hides page elements that compromise user privacy. This system is intended to help the browser block third-party ads that cannot be blocked at the network level.

For more information and updates, visit the official Brave website or check out their demo and technical documentation.