Re: [gentoo-user] Google privacy changes

[Neil Bothwick]

On Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:56:49 +0000, Mick wrote:

> > They can track a lot more than IP addresses, your browser can provide
> > a lot of information, not just user-agent but installed fonts, plugin
> > information and much more. There is enough to do a damn good job of
> > identifying you even when your IP address changes. It is certainly
> > simple to see if you are one user or two.
>
> Not necessarily without making some broad assumptions.  For example two
> different users could be using the same machine and OS and browser; or
> same user could be using same machine, but different browser; or
> different users using different machines with same OS & browser, etc.

There is actually a huge amount of information available, giving a high
level of pseudo-uniqueness. There was a web site that showed you how
much it could glean from even an anonymous session, but I can't remember
where is was. Somewhere like the EFF.

Of course, two people using the same browser on the same computer as the
same user would be indistinguishable, which is as good a reason as any to
not let anyone else use your browser.

> So extrapolating the user profile from browser headers is unreliable.
> Of course Google may only be interested in getting right most of the
> time in which case they may use such info - although I have not found
> any references that they actually do.

Agreed on both, I was only saying that it can be done, not that it is.

Not that Google's profiling of individual's information is that hot
anyway. Last year they approached me about a job for which I am
completely unqualified - and not just because it meant getting out of bed
before 9am :-O


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Men who have playful kittens shouldn't sleep in the nude.