this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2025
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LibreWolf
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This sent me down a rabbit hole; interesting stuff.
The way I'm understanding this: the way an image is rendered depends on lots of different factors like browser, OS, graphics card etc, plus other bits like fonts and anti-aliasing settings. Each persons set up is unique so an image rendering on that browser on that device will be unique. So to fingerprint and track someone, they get your browser to generate a reference image then extract the details of the created pixels from the memory and generate an MD5 hash which is then unique to your browser. That's your fingerprint and every time a site generates the reference image it produces the same MD5 hash. That is then used to track you.
So an anti-fingerprinting technique is to throw in a very subtle randomness to the colours generated in the image, which results in a unique MD5 each time the test is run making it useless for people tracking you (you are essentially a "new" browser every time a site tries to fingerprint you). So if you have #000000 for black, instead it may randomise to #000003 one time, and #002000 next. It's a very subtle variance on the colours so won't be readily perceptible but on images rendered and shown to you this would create very subtle noise. Hence the warning for a graphics tool; the makers are aware this effects how their tool works and are warning you incase you notice the results.
Imagine people with this much creativity and talent using it for good instead of fucking browser tracking
That is incredibly interesting. Thanks for going down the rabbit hole.
It's truly shocking how much trouble companies go through to surreptitiously track us.
What would be a good extension for avoiding that fingerprinting? Using Gecko-based browsers like Waterfox and Fennec, if that's relevant.
Also poking @carotte@lemmy.blahaj.zone since OP's browser appears to have one properly doing it too.
Just enable strong the strongest level of protection in Firefox. It's already in the browser.
Will do. Thanks!
CanvasBlock
Holy...that's why Blockbench (pixel art 3d web based modeling software) randomly gives me noise when painting with a solid color! It's been annoying me so much
Spoiler
!test@community.comThe real security hole is how much information the browser gives to the web server. The only thing a web server needs to know is what content the user is looking for, but sadly web browser send a ton of identifying information to the point where it's become expected behaviour and some websites won't work without it.
Developer of NeedCoolerShoes, the site in question here. Yes, absolutely correct, spot on! For anyone else interested in researching this more, the technique is called farbling.
In fact, as my tool also has layers, this subtle noise would compound with each additional layer added, until the noise was not subtle at all.
I received many bug reports about this, and it took me ages to track down the root cause, by asking users what browsers they were using and joining the dots.
I do worry that maybe I worded the popup poorly leading some more skeptical folk to worry my site was attempting to fingerprint them, which it is not.