How to check your browser fingerprint
- Open the page. Within a second it collects the same signals that tracking scripts can read: browser and system details, screen, time zone, graphics card, fonts, and how your device draws canvas graphics and processes audio.
- The signals are combined into a short fingerprint ID. Each row explains what the value reveals.
- Open this page in a private window, or come back after clearing cookies, and press Compare: if the ID is the same, sites can recognise you without cookies.
What browser fingerprinting is
Fingerprinting identifies a browser by combining many small, individually harmless details. Your screen size, time zone and language are shared by millions of people, but together with your exact GPU model, installed fonts and tiny rendering differences in canvas and audio output, the combination is often unique. Research such as the EFF's Panopticlick and Cover Your Tracks projects found that the large majority of browsers can be uniquely identified this way. Unlike cookies, a fingerprint is not stored on your device, so clearing data or using private mode does not reset it.
To reduce fingerprinting, use a browser with built-in protection: Tor Browser makes all users look alike, Brave randomises some values, and Firefox and Safari block known fingerprinting scripts. Avoid installing many unusual fonts and extensions, which make you stand out. Paradoxically, too many custom privacy tweaks can make you more unique. This page computes everything locally; the ID is only saved in your own browser's storage for the comparison.
Does a VPN stop fingerprinting?
No. A VPN hides your IP address, but every signal on this page stays the same, and your time zone can even reveal where you really are.
Does incognito mode stop it?
Usually not. Private windows clear cookies, but most fingerprint signals are identical.
Is fingerprinting legal?
In the UK and EU, fingerprinting for tracking needs consent under data protection and ePrivacy rules, like cookies. Enforcement is still limited.