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Incognito / Privacy

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I couldn't find a solution on this support forum and I apologise if the issue has been addressed before.

I seek to browse in complete privacy/incognito to avoid websites being able to detect my identity.

I use a VPN, my WIN10 location services are all set to OFF, Firefox cookies are not allowed for the relevant websites, I use Firefox private browsing, when I open the relevant websites I make sure that I don't have any other windows/tabs open, GPS is not installed on my laptop...

Yet, websites can still identify me!

Can you recommend a check list of settings to ensure that I don't get identified by websites?

Win 10 Firefox PC Tunnel Bear

I couldn't find a solution on this support forum and I apologise if the issue has been addressed before. I seek to browse in complete privacy/incognito to avoid websites being able to detect my identity. I use a VPN, my WIN10 location services are all set to OFF, Firefox cookies are not allowed for the relevant websites, I use Firefox private browsing, when I open the relevant websites I make sure that I don't have any other windows/tabs open, GPS is not installed on my laptop... Yet, websites can still identify me! Can you recommend a check list of settings to ensure that I don't get identified by websites? Win 10 Firefox PC Tunnel Bear

All Replies (20)

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jscher2000 said

If you log in to a website, you are specifically identifying yourself to the site. Obviously the site can monitor your every move if they want. Tracking Protection cannot help you with that. Firefox's Tracking Protection feature blocks third party tracking scripts, such as Google Analytics. Some sites do not work correctly without third party content that is on the tracking sites list, so in those cases you would need to make an exception if you want to use that site. Since Firefox's allow/block setting doesn't let you pick and choose which individual trackers in a page can run, you may prefer to use an extension which offers finer control (such as Blur, Disconnect, Ghostery, or Privacy Badger).

Thank you for your detailed advice. Unfortunately I do not know which settings to select in the AddOns that you mentions.

My objective is to create an account on a website that keeps blocking/deleting me.

Can you help understand how to proceed and what settings in what AddOns would allow me to create an account on the specific website that is blocking me?

I even thought that I may need a different hardware as the website may be identifying me through my laptop MACADDRESS or other means that I cannot even imagine.

Can you please help me?

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Probably only a trusted VPN can accomplish this, otherwise you would still keep the same IP.

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cor-el said

Probably only a trusted VPN can accomplish this, otherwise you would still keep the same IP.

I apologies but I am really IT challenged and I do not understand this VPN solution because, initially, I mentioned that I was using a VPN. It was then suggested that this was insufficient and I should apply specific settings (links kindly forwarded), which, in turn, made it impossible to logon to a profile on the website from which I am trying to hide my identity from.

Did I reassume correctly?

My problem is that this website blocks any new, perfectly legitimate, profile, created by other individuals (as my wife or friend) if these new profiles are created from my laptop.

The objective is, obviously, to use my laptop and not another one.

Thank you and sorry if I am so IT dumb and need/use up so much of your time.

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I seem to have exhaused all support forum's resources and I thank all who tried to help me maintain privacy on Firefox, I appreciated the time and advice.

Summary of the support request "Incognito / Privacy":

Mozilla Firefox cannot hide identity of user.

I will try Chrome.

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ascanio1 said

I will try Chrome.

I never thought that you'd even consider Chrome ....

Please see :

https://restoreprivacy.com/secure-browser/

(please read the whole article)

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Only a different IP could possibly help in this case unless they use fingerprinting checks.

Did you check what IP you get with the VPN you used?

You can also try this in a new profile.

cor-el modificouno o

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McCoy said

ascanio1 said
I will try Chrome.

I never thought that you'd even consider Chrome .... Please see : https://restoreprivacy.com/secure-browser/ (please read the whole article)

Perhaps the way I phrased the post gave the wrong impression.

Don't get me wrong: I HATE Chrome because it's a google application! And i hate even more MS for different reasons but... my wife and I need to create an account on a specific website that keeps blocking us whatever names, credit cards, photos, profile wording, VPN, etc, etc. we use. We are lost! We need that specific platform as there are absolutely no other viable alternatives. We tried all other alternatives but they are no way near as good as this specific platform.

It's a very simple baby sitter website so don't imagine weird or illegal motives.

We simply posted a profile seeking a nanny who would "share our Christian values" and we were banned for "religious discrimination and offensive language", which is absolutely ridiculous!!!!

We need to bypass this block as my wife and I work in a foreign country and need a specific type of nanny. My wife already lost one month of work and risks being fired from her job.

So, after having explained why we are so desperate, perhaps my post does not sound so aggressive or offensive towards Mozilla/Firefox.

I thought of trying Chrome because I was unable to find a solution on this otherwise really excellent support forum.

I hope that my message corrected the tones of my previous post, for which interpretation I apologize.

Tommaso Santojanni modificouno o

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So...

This guy, Sven Taylor, suggests that: "The browser is usually the weak link in the chain" and does not exhonerate Firefox from these STUN IP requests.

I have fixed the STUN risk through "media.peerconnection.enabled" set to FALSE.

I then followed these (https://restoreprivacy.com/browser-fingerprinting/) instructions (but I had already applied these settings) and I got the result in the image.

I do not know what more to do!

Tommaso Santojanni modificouno o

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Hi ascanio1, support forum volunteers are not experts in bypassing website security measures. You may need to seek advice elsewhere, whatever browser you end up using.

ascanio1 said

Summary of the support request "Incognito / Privacy": Mozilla Firefox cannot hide identity of user.

This feature is not related to hiding your identity. You already know you need a tool to change your IP address to even load a page on the site. Then you want to create an account on the site, which will require you to provide identifying information (true or false). This is beyond the scope of Firefox's features.

For more information on the purpose of Private windows, see: Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history

For more information on Tracking Protection, see: Content blocking

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cor-el said

Only a different IP could possibly help in this case unless they use fingerprinting checks. Did you check what IP you get with the VPN you used? You can also try this in a new profile.

Thank you Cor el.

1. I do not know if the use fingerprint. I did my best and I posted the results. Pls advise how to reduce my fingerprint unicity. The screen resolution seems very unique.

2. I changed the TunnelBear location from Australia to Italy but I was still identified.

Again, thank you.

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Just some thoughts :

1) Would it be possible to have a friend post in your place  ?

2) Would this add-on be of any use :

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/anonymox/  ?


Quoting you :

"I hope that my message corrected the tones of my previous post, for which interpretation I apologize. "

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the tone of your previous posts, so : definately no need to apologize !

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jscher2000 said

Hi ascanio1, support forum volunteers are not experts in bypassing website security measures. You may need to seek advice elsewhere, whatever browser you end up using. ascanio1 said
Summary of the support request "Incognito / Privacy": Mozilla Firefox cannot hide identity of user.

This feature is not related to hiding your identity. You already know you need a tool to change your IP address to even load a page on the site. Then you want to create an account on the site, which will require you to provide identifying information (true or false). This is beyond the scope of Firefox's features. For more information on the purpose of Private windows, see: Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history For more information on Tracking Protection, see: Content blocking

Thank you for laying out the scope of the problem but, if you are correct, then every single internet user can be identified. I am not an expert but I cannot believe that there is no way to hide one's identity on the internet.

There must be a way to create an account/profile on a website without being identified. Can you recommend a specific forum where I may find help?

Tommaso Santojanni modificouno o

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ascanio1 said

There must be a way to create an account/profile on a website without being identified.

Obviously people and bots register online accounts using fake information all the time. However, while that might be good enough to send a few tweets, it usually is a violation of the terms of service and such accounts can be canceled at any time.

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McCoy said

Just some thoughts : 1) Would it be possible to have a friend post in your place  ? 2) Would this add-on be of any use : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/anonymox/  ?

Quoting you : "I hope that my message corrected the tones of my previous post, for which interpretation I apologize. " There was absolutely nothing wrong with the tone of your previous posts, so: definately no need to apologize !

1. Yes, but it is not practical. The process of selecting a candidate is time consuming and personal as priorities vary from family to family. Each message to and from an applicant must be pertinent and unique. Each day we respond to a dozen messages during the selection process that can last up to a month...

2. Perhaps yes but the stumbling block is that this specific website requires tracking cookies to be enabled to login.

I thank you for the comment at the end. I am very concerned not to come across ungrateful for the time and expertise that I am being gifted with. Time and expertise = value = money. Cor el, jscher2000, yourself and all others who help are - basically - giving me a gift that has economic worth. I appreciate this and I wanted to clear the misunderstanding.

Again, thank you.

Tommaso Santojanni modificouno o

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So far I understand that there are 2 stumbling blocks:

1. I am not unique (apparently due to screen resolution, fonts and other markers) and chameleon does not seem to work: I set IE11 on Win8.1 and a different screen resolution but chameleon did not manage to hide these markers (see image).

2. The website requires tracking cookies to login.

If I could solve (1) with some good spoofing AddOn, and I managed to hide my fingerprint, then could I allow tracking at that point or would tracking bypass the spoofing AddOn?

Tommaso Santojanni modificouno o

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jscher2000 said

ascanio1 said
There must be a way to create an account/profile on a website without being identified.

Obviously people and bots register online accounts using fake information all the time. However, while that might be good enough to send a few tweets, it usually is a violation of the terms of service and such accounts can be canceled at any time.

So you are suggesting that there is no way to hide on internet?

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I just went over this whole thread again and (correct me if I'm wrong) your problem is not that you can't hide your identity, but the problem is that this particular site banned you. You will of course have tried to contact the administrator, which was not possible as you can't sign in. Earlier I suggested to maybe have a friend post in your place - what if this friend only posted and asked the site's administrator (on your behalf) to accept your apology and lift the ban  ?

You say that there are no alternatives to this site - a quick search with the criteria you mentioned, gave me an impressive list ...... If you can't get the ban lifted; maybe give one of them a try ?

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McCoy said

I just went over this whole thread again and (correct me if I'm wrong) your problem is not that you can't hide your identity, but the problem is that this particular site banned you.

Correct.

You will of course have tried to contact the administrator, which was not possible as you can't sign in.

I contacted the administrator who replied that the website does not give reasons for banning.

Earlier I suggested to maybe have a friend post in your place - what if this friend only posted and asked the site's administrator (on your behalf) to accept your apology and lift the ban?

I did receive a reply from the administrator. I appreciate the advice, thank you, but I am not seeking a resolution to my specific case as much as general advice that can be used, in general, by any other Firefox users who may face similar challenges.

You say that there are no alternatives to this site - a quick search with the criteria you mentioned, gave me an impressive list ...... If you can't get the ban lifted; maybe give one of them a try ?

I tried most of them. The resuls are dismal. What counts is number of active applicants. The one I am interested has 45,000 active applicants. The next best one has 25,000 applicants of which less than 700 active. I just enrolled and paid premium on most of them so I speak with first hand information.

Regardless, my help request, here, is not specific but generic and I am seeking to help others from posting my challenges so that others may benefit from our thread.

The question remains: how does one hide one's identity on the internet.

We have reached the point where I understand that the challenges are: 1. I should try to become not unique (the recommended AddOns didn't work), and 2. The website requires tracking to allow logging in.

Please,

A) can you confirm that my analisys is correct (items [1] and [2] above)? B) can you advise me, in general terms that others may benefit from, how a Firefox user can surpass these challenges?

I would really appreciate help to resolve this problem before trying with another browsers as TOR or WatreFox or the non-google Chrome.

Again, thank you for your concerned and interested effort that I appreciate.

Tommaso Santojanni modificouno o

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Hi ascanio1:

(1) Some sites use fingerprinting. I do not believe it is very common.

(2) In order to stay logged into a site, you usually need to allow the site to set cookies. Allowing Firefox to accept and return cookies to a site allows the site to associate your requests together as a unique user session. You could consider that a kind of tracking.

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