Your GPU could be used to track you online

Date:
Mon, 31 Jan 2022 14:07:32 +0000

Description:
GPU tracking may not be as precise as cookies, but it still violates people's privacy.

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Experts have revealed that a computers Graphics Processing Unit ( GPU ) can
be used to track users across the web.

A group of 10 researchers from universities in France, Israel, and Australia have published a report on a new "remote GPU fingerprinting technique dubbed DrawnApart.

Explained as plainly as possible, this uses a cross-platform API for
rendering 3D graphics in the browser, called WebGL. When combined with the GPUs operations, it creates a unique fingerprint of the device. Violation of privacy

The researchers tested the method on 2,550 devices, carrying a total of 1,605 unique CPU configurations. The results have shown that the median tracking duration of current, state-of-the-art methods can be extended, from the current, 17.5 days, to 28 days. Thats a 67% increase.

This is a severe problem for user privacy, a news report on BleepingComputer reads. Consumer privacy has been in the spotlight for the past couple of years, ever since Googles and Facebooks tracking practices were scrutinized (other large tech companies, as well as some nation-states, arent faring much better, either).

Current laws and regulations, such as the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation, focus on making sure the users give explicit consent before accepting cookies onto their devices.

As a result, various businesses and unscrupulous websites have turned to
other tracking methods, collecting potential fingerprinting elements such as hardware configuration, the visitors operating system, their timezone, screen resolution, etc. Read More

These tiny icons could be tracking you across the internet

Apple wants to help you stop advertisers tracking your internet activity

ProtonMail wants to stop you being tracked online via email

However, none of these methods are as successful as cookie placement, as the elements regularly change. Even if theyre stable, they only allow the
websites to broadly categorize their customers, rather than create a unique fingerprint.

The next version of WebGPU, which is currently being developed, will feature additional compute shaders, which may introduce even more ways to fingerprint internet users, the report concludes.

People looking to remain anonymous when browsing the web will usually install a VPN , access the internet via a proxy server, and deploy a whole swathe of other privacy tools . You might also want to check out our list of the best business VPNs right now

Via: BleepingComputer



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/your-gpu-could-be-used-to-track-you-online/


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