Supercookie: Shaping the Future of Web Privacy
The digital sphere is often marked with concerns over tracking systems, the concern of user privacy and the constant struggle between the use of advanced technologies and preserving anonymity. One such open-source project on Github that stands testament to this ongoing battle is Supercookie - a project created by Jonas Strehle, that is poised to change our understanding of web privacy. Supercookie is dedicated to introducing and demonstrating a powerful method of browser fingerprinting that could potentially redefine online privacy as we know it.
Project Overview:
Supercookie exploits a novel technique that tracks users online even in the absence of traditional cookies. By playing around with favicon cache behavior, Supercookie has managed to develop a potent and somewhat eerie tracking mechanism. The objective behind Supercookie is not inherently nefarious, instead, by exhibiting a frighteningly efficient function, it hopes to engage technologists and regulators in a discourse about the urgency of web privacy and the significance of measures to safeguard it.
The targeted audience for this project would include anybody involved with web development, online security or data privacy, from security enthusiasts, web developers, to data regulators or professionals engaged in digital policy-making.
Project Features:
The highlight of Supercookie is its utilization of a browser’s favicon to perform tracking operations. A favicon is a small icon representing a website in the user's browser and bookmark list. The favicon cache behaves differently compared to other caches like HTTP cache or DNS cache, making it unique in its purpose. Supercookie capitalizes on this distinction to carry out browser fingerprinting - a process that collects detailed data about an individual's device such as software versions, active plugins, and various other settings.
Through this procedure, even if the user switches devices, wipes all cookies, uses incognito mode, or carries out other actions typically meant to obscure footprints online, Supercookie is still able to trace the initial fingerprint.
Technology Stack:
Supercookie has been developed using JavaScript, a universal web language whose role in fetch requests makes it integral to the project. The favicon utilized in Supercookie is a minimal SVG that has been base64 encoded. Supercookie's efficient tracking premise rests on the back of these technologies that lend themselves seamlessly to the project's intent and are instrumental to its success.
Project Structure and Architecture:
Supercookie operates by generating the favicon in JS and encoding user IDs within the favicon. It uses a web server based on Node.js that hosts the demo page on localhost. The favicon is stored on the user's device, leading to the favicon being served from the cache across sessions, thereby enabling the discreet tracking function.
Contribution Guidelines:
