Due to the giant GOPstrich in the room. I have switched to linux and been actively trying to learn as much computer science as possible. I set up a TOR relay using Librewolf as the browser, using socks5 to send data from the browser, through the network. As an experiment, I asked Microsoft’s AI where I was and it immediately returned my city. I tried again using a VPN, with a different browser and it still got it right. So, I wanted to ask, how can we limit the telemetry collected by these programs? How can we better limit their ability to spy on us?
I wouldn’t use Copilot for this, as it may be using some older info on you that it already has. There are lots of “whatismyip” type sites that can try to guess your location. Failing that, see what region Google serves you ads from—any YouTube ads I get are always from my VPN endpoint country/region.
Also, just try plain old Tor Browser to compare with your setup.
Maybe, but it’s a brand new Linux install. New browser and everything, just a bit unnerving you know?
Usually it uses your IP address first, bit it’s not the only information in cases where the IP address is a known VPN or similar. Are you saying you were tunneling over TOR the first time?
When you switched to VPN you didn’t mention what browser. If it’s one that supports advertising IDs, that could be used, for example.
And when you connected to copilot did you get a captcha popup? If so, did you have to actually solve a captcha or click a button? If not, then it likely is getting information from somewhere that you are trustworthy.
Clear all browser data, make sure enhanced tracking protection is not disabled for the site. Go to a site that tells your IP address and verify it’s the Tor endpoint to verify the setup there is correct. Then try again.
Also, assuming you’re not clicking through any popups to allow tracking info or logging in to any accounts on this browser beforehand. If you log into a Microsoft account or any other account for a site that Microsoft gets info from first, it can use those logins to track you. You can disable this in the browser, but so many sites will break without it.
It might have been your DNS that was identified? It depends on whether you enabled proxy DNS for SOCKS5.
For best fingerprinting protection, use either:
- Mullvad Browser with a VPN (prefer Mullvad VPN)
- Tor Browser
Avoid using Tor with a normal browser because you will stick out like a sore thumb.
