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    [Solved] Still being tracked when using Opera VPN

    Opera for Windows
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    • bengalfire
      bengalfire last edited by

      Hi,
      I've found this article:
      https://gist.github.com/spaze/558b7c4cd81afa7c857381254ae7bd10
      in which Mr. Spacek says, that the browser based VPN generates a STATIC (!) Device-ID which can be used for tracking. I already realized that youtube recognizes my browser ...
      Can an Opera official please answer me, if Opera is willing to work on a fix for this?
      Thanks.

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      • leocg
        leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by

        the browser based VPN generates a STATIC (!) Device-ID which can be used for tracking

        https://www.opera.com/privacy

        I already realized that youtube recognizes my browser

        What do you mean?

        if Opera is willing to work on a fix for this?

        I don't think there is something to be fixed.

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        • A Former User
          A Former User last edited by

          I already realized that youtube recognizes my browser ...

          It's probably cookies.

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          • bengalfire
            bengalfire last edited by

            @leocg
            you obviously didn't understand what I meant or what's described in the article. Sorry.
            And yes there needs to be betterment to the current so called VPN.

            @joshl
            Nope, I delete my cookies after each surfseason with great care. That can't be the reason. It's really the virtually generated Device ID.

            Anyways thanks for your answers.

            Meanwhile I mailed to the Opera support about this issue.

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            • leocg
              leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by

              you obviously didn't understand what I meant or what's described in the article.

              Maybe you could try to explain it. Opera says in their privacy policy that they use a unique ID linked to the computer/installation so I don't see the point.

              Also, you didn't answer the question about Youtube recognizing your browser.

              It's really the virtually generated Device ID.

              And how a site could know and access an information that only makes sense to Opera? It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

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              • Deleted User
                Deleted User last edited by

                @ bengalfire:

                opera is neither tor nor tails.

                opera's web proxy services cannot provide full vpn functionality.

                please learn before you shout around.

                my 2 centimes...

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                • bengalfire
                  bengalfire last edited by

                  @ cubot
                  where did you hear me shout? I just WROTE my concerns. I think you are the one who is a bit aggressive here.
                  And I know that Opera VPN is only browser based not a systemwide VPN.

                  @ leocg and joshl
                  Please excuse me. You were right. I indeed found a old cookie which Ccleaner AUTOMATICALLY had excluded. I deleted it.

                  And also I got a very competent and detailed answer from Mr. Wilton-Jones from the Opera support.
                  I paste it here for everyone who has questions about Opera VPN:

                  Hi,

                  Thanks for your mail.

                  Google probably recognises you because you visited the Google site
                  before enabling the VPN, and it set a cookie to use for identification.
                  You can clear or disable cookies in the settings. You can also start a
                  private tab and enable VPN in it, so that none of your old cookies will
                  be used.

                  Note that Google (and other websites) may also recognise your browser's
                  language setting. For example, if your browser language is set to
                  German, and you enable VPN with your location set to Canada, websites
                  may still give you German versions of their sites or German search
                  results, just because of your browser's language setting - not because
                  they have actually recognised you. If you care about this (it has no
                  privacy implications, and is actually useful to have websites work in
                  your chosen languages) you can change your browser language in the
                  settings. Opera menu - Settings - Browser - Languages - Specify your
                  preferred languages for webpages.

                  your browser VPN generates a STATIC (!) Device-ID which can be used for tracking

                  The Device-ID cannot be seen by websites. It is used only by the
                  SurfEasy VPN server, eg. so that it can see that it granted permission
                  for your browser to use the VPN. If you wanted to, you can clear theDevice-ID (it will generate a new one next time you use the VPN) using
                  Opera menu - More tools - Clear browsing data - Third party services
                  data. (Note that this will make it very slightly slower when
                  reconnecting to the VPN, since it will need to generate the new ID.) You
                  can see more about how SurfEasy uses the subscriber ID in their privacy
                  policy here:
                  https://www.surfeasy.com/privacy_policy/

                  Hope this clears things up for you.

                  --
                  Tarquin Wilton-Jones
                  Security Team
                  Opera Software

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