Anonymity Doesn't Exist. How the System Recognises You Even Without a Name

You open the browser in incognito mode. You think — now they don’t see me. I’m going in anonymously. No. Incognito mode hides your history from your browser. Not from the internet.

Five ways the system recognises you without cookies and without a name:

First — the IP address

Every time you go online — your provider assigns you an IP address. It is like an apartment number on the internet. The site you open sees this number automatically. From the IP address the country, city, provider are determined. If the IP is static — it is permanently tied to you. If dynamic — it changes but the behaviour pattern remains.

Browser fingerprint. This is the most inconspicuous and most precise method. When you visit a site — your browser automatically transmits technical information about itself. Browser version, operating system, screen resolution, installed fonts, time zone, system language, graphics settings, list of plugins. Each parameter on its own is not unique. But the combination of all the parameters together — is unique for each device with a probability of more than 99%. This is your digital fingerprint. It does not change when you turn on incognito. It does not change when you delete cookies. It remains until you change the device.

Canvas fingerprinting

A more advanced version of the fingerprint. The site inconspicuously asks your browser to draw invisible text or a figure. Each device draws slightly differently — because of different graphics cards, different font versions, different rendering settings. The drawing result is hashed into a unique identifier. This identifier is the same for your device on any site that uses canvas fingerprinting. VKontakte uses precisely this method — it is documented in a complaint to AKI and confirmed by analysis through Blacklight by The Markup.

The behavioural profile

Even if the system has neither your name nor cookies — it recognises you by behaviour. Typing speed. How you move the mouse. How you scroll the page. At what time of day you are active. Which topics you read. How much time you spend on each page. From which device you log in in the morning and from which in the evening. This is called behavioural biometrics. Your style of interaction with a device is as unique as handwriting. And just like handwriting — it is impossible to change consciously. Banks use this to protect against fraud — if someone stole your password but types differently from you, the system notices. Advertising networks use this to identify users without cookies.

Cross-identification

You are logged into Google. You open a new tab in incognito and visit any site that has a «log in with Google» button or a Google Maps widget or Google Fonts. Google sees the request. Google knows that from this IP and with this fingerprint a specific account was just logged in. Two plus two. The same works with the Facebook Like Button, with Twitter widgets, with any external content loaded from the servers of a company you are authenticated with.

What really helps

VPN — hides your real IP. The system sees the IP of the VPN server, not yours. But the fingerprint remains.
The Tor browser — changes the fingerprint on every session and hides the IP through a chain of servers. The most reliable tool for anonymity. Slower than an ordinary browser. But it has three caveats. First — legal risks. The mere fact of using Tor in some countries attracts the attention of intelligence services. Not because it is illegal — but because it is a marker. Second — technical traps. Tor exit nodes can be eavesdropped on. If you came in through Tor but logged into Google — the anonymity is gone. Third — content. Accidentally landing on something you did not expect is a real risk for an unprepared person.
The Brave browser — automatically randomises the fingerprint on every visit. Free, fast, requires no setup.
Firefox with uBlock Origin — blocks most of the trackers that collect the fingerprint. Not perfect, but significantly better than nothing.
Disabling JavaScript — a radical method. Most fingerprint-collection methods work through JavaScript. Without it sites look different, but the tracking drops sharply.

The main thing to understand

Anonymity on the internet is not turning on incognito. It is a set of measures that together make your profile less precise. Full anonymity does not exist. But there is a difference between one who leaves a clear trail and one who leaves a blurred one. The blurrier the trail — the less data in the profile. The less data — the less valuable the profile is to brokers. The less valuable the profile — the less money the system earns on you. That is the goal. Not to disappear completely — but to stop being profitable goods.