{
  "id": 3165344,
  "title": "Browser fingerprint tool shows how easy you are to track using the latest sneaky tricks",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/browser-fingerprint-tool-shows-how-easy-you-are-to-track-using-the-3165344",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-24T21:07:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register",
    "slug": "the-register",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/08/24/browser-fingerprint-tool-shows-how-easy-you-are-to-track-using-the-latest-sneaky-tricks/5292015"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new browser fingerprinting tool named Glassbox is available for users to assess how easily their browsers and devices can be tracked. Running entirely within the browser, Glassbox does not transmit any data and mimics typical trackers, anti-fraud scripts, and other fingerprinting techniques encountered online. Unlike other similar tools, Glassbox reveals a wealth of raw, unfiltered data and calculates an estimate of how easily the user's browser can be identified. In testing, Glassbox's identifier ratings varied from 99% for the user's daily-used Chrome window to 56% in Tor Browser with an active circuit. The \"identifiability\" number is an estimation and not a precise measure, according to Glassbox's developer, David Dale. This estimate is based on published per-signal entropy, discounted browser masks, and an upper limit of 33 bits required to single out an individual on Earth. Dale created Glassbox after discovering silent sawtooth waves used by fingerprinting code found on AliExpress to identify browsers. The tool incorporates 30 other probes for unique browser data, including canvas, WebGL, font libraries, WASM features, API matrices, and cross-site login states. Glassbox estimates that the user's daily-used Chrome session is unique to around 1 in 7.6 billion browsers, and their IP address further narrows this down. Firefox and Tor are among the few browsers that do not label the user as effectively unique, giving an estimated identifiability rating of 89% and 56%, respectively. Dale emphasizes that the tool's estimates are not definitive truths, as it cannot measure true rarity. To increase online anonymity, Dale suggests using a browser that effectively blends in and employing a VPN or Tor, while closing WebRTC leaks is also crucial.",
  "summary": "Glassbox dev admits he had some help from Claude to build locally running tool",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Register Science",
        "title": "Browser fingerprint tool shows how easy you are to track using the latest sneaky tricks",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/browser-fingerprint-tool-shows-how-easy-you-are-to-track-using-the",
        "published": "2026-08-24T21:07:10.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}