The Development of a Data Collection and Browser Fingerprinting System

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Data Science

Background:

• The increasing reliance on the World Wide Web necessitates robust user privacy and security measures.
• Browser fingerprinting is a significant cybersecurity challenge, as it uniquely identifies devices even without cookies.
• Existing solutions primarily mitigate, rather than eliminate, browser fingerprinting risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the lack of accessible data for browser fingerprinting research.
• To develop and share a methodology for collecting raw browser fingerprint data.
• To contribute an open-source dataset for advancing research in online privacy and security.

Main Methods:

• Developed a scripting-based process for comprehensive browser fingerprint data collection.
• Structured data collection into distinct sections for clarity and usability.
• Focused on gathering non-personally identifiable information for the dataset.

Main Results:

• Successfully collected a raw dataset of browser fingerprints.
• Documented the methodology for data collection, enabling reproducibility.
• Established the first open-source repository of browser fingerprint data.

Conclusions:

• The creation of an open dataset is crucial for educating stakeholders and enabling strategic decisions.
• Accessible raw data will foster further research into browser fingerprinting detection and mitigation.
• This work provides a foundational resource for the cybersecurity community to combat privacy threats.