VPN privacy and browsers using your device details

Jul 4, 2018
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Hi,
if browsers take your device details is a VPN really useful? I do have one but the other day I wanted to check my google ranking in different countries so I cleared by browser history and using /ncr then /?gl=country code logged on to Google in Denmark - but Google still knew who I was? I couldn't work this out as all my Google accounts were off, I was not logged into anything Google at all - yet they still new it was me?? Can anyone clarify if we can ever be truly anonymous? Google is becoming a world political player now and it is rather disturbing,
JCC
 
Jul 4, 2018
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I thought a VPN was incognito mode? Sorry not an expert - I am using Private internet access - what do I need to change to use incognito mode - I would have thought that was a default mode?
JCC
 


If you are using the chrome browser hit the button top right and open a "New incognito window", this disables location services.
 
Jul 4, 2018
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So on the incognito window it says
Chrome won’t save the following information:
Your browsing history
Cookies and site data
Information entered in forms

It doesn't say anything about Google not collecting info on the machine your are using - hence it is not incognito?

JCC
 


So what information regarding the "machine" are you trying to hide and why???
 
Jul 4, 2018
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I don't have anything to hide at all - it is just simple privacy. I have only just started to look into this because everyone goes on about you can only be successful on the web if you are up on the golden 1st page of Google. So I started to look into my Google rankings - non existent - but I still work by the best method which is word and mouth. However I was intrigued by my having virtual zero Google ranking (and by that I mean on the 10th + page. So I look at my Referrals for bounces - out of 30 listed bouncers - 26 were a major company which would do well to keep the small guys hidden. I check one page which lists something of my own which is only listed on my own website and one other - I thought - I should at least be second there.... but no, I am again not listed. I can't write it all down here as it would be a minor thesis but my feeling is that we are all being tracked so much, there is no more independence. Whilst it is good for the authorities to be able to track criminals, what price do the 98% of ordinary moral citizens have to pay for this. I do not want Google to know that IMACjcc has just logged on from Poland - but it is OK - we know it is her anyway as it is the same machine. I have thought that possibly the only way to do proper research is to have a separate iPad which is registered not to a name at all, not upload any personal app's etc on it then do the research using a VPN - but even then the VPN links me to the iPad..... Doing anything underhand is most definitely wrong but how can we be sure that all the bowsers that are basically money making machines for their shareholders are not the main manipulators in the world. Basically all the big guys Google etc are digital politicians - entities that sway our thoughts and actions and their moral compass is money. Hence I would like to be totally anonymous.
JCC
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
A VPN doesn't, and cannot, hide everything.
Your browser and system details, for instance. The site you connect to needs those, to deliver accurate content.
Many sites have different delivery for mobile vs desktop. Or different for individual browsers. Edge vs Opera, for instance, may require slightly different coding.

If you have google cookies on your system, it will read those, VPN or not.

A VPN is only really good for masking your IP address.


And ultimately, the data your system/browser sends to a server can identify a particular PC.
After the first day of opening the box on a new PC, it is "unique". Different software installed, different fonts, different browser version, different drivers, etc, etc, etc.

It doesn't necessarily know it is the meatspace "you". But it knows that it has seen this PC before.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


For instance, go here and test with this tool from the EFF:
https://panopticlick.eff.org/

When it finishes, click on Show full results for fingerprinting.

"Your browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 1,785,082 tested in the past 45 days."

Your PC has a different fingerprint than mine does. Your PC (probably) has a different fingerprint than any other PC on the planet.
 
Jul 4, 2018
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Yes - I have just tried that. I don't mind my computer being identifiable for Police and law enforcement - what I don't like is that private companies can possibly use this 'fingerprint' data for commercial purposes. It is just not right and should not be allowed. If I want to ask for a price on a 'shop' on the Uk version and get a price then use the vpn to go on the Italian site to see the price difference for an Italian - I don't want the company to have digitally logged me for that product so the price is 'adjusted' for me in euros. I did this a while back with a friend (can't say if it is still the same) - me on my laptop looking at rooms from my browser (Uk registered) then I changed the browser settings for Italian language and used a vpn to connect to the Italian version - same room different price. A friend whose browser was Italian registered and was in Italy - different price result! It is just not right - there is something very morally corrupt in all of this and the only way they can do it is by logging your computer 'fingerprint' so your stuffed any way you try.
Someone help Berners-Lee on his mission so this can be rectified please!
JCC