"Browsing Histories Can Be Used to Track Users"

A study conducted by Mozilla researchers has confirmed that browsing histories can be employed to track users by compiling unique browsing profiles. They collected browsing data from 52,000 Firefox users for two weeks. The examination of the collected data resulted in the identification of 48,919 distinct browsing profiles, of which were 99% unique. It was also discovered that 50% of the users who visited 50 or more distinct domains in the two-week data collection period could be reidentified using the top 10,000 sites. Reidentifiability grew to more than 80% for users that visited 150 or more distinct domains. Privacy researchers call for regulations and standards for the protection of web browsing histories. This article continues to discuss the newest research on the use of browsing history as an identifier, and past studies that have revealed the same privacy problem and the insufficiency of certain methods aimed at protecting users' anonymity. 

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