Cover Your Tracks by EFF
Browser fingerprint test in Privacy & security
Free EFF test showing what your browser reveals and how identifiable it is. Critics say its uniqueness scores only compare against visitors to the same site.
Free EFF test showing what your browser reveals and how identifiable it is. Critics say its uniqueness scores only compare against visitors to the same site.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 59%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Shows what browsers reveal to sites
“it still gives a nice summary of bits of info your browser leaks and how fingerprinting basically works”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: DevicePrint – device fingerprinting without cookies” “if you really want to know what your browser is sending”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “A web page that shows you everything the browser told it without asking” Breaks down each identifying attribute
“shows the individual uniqueness of each attribute”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Explore what the browser exposes about you” “breaks down a lot of the bits of data used”
Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “CBP Tapped into the Online Advertising Ecosystem to Track Peoples' Movements” Rated better than similar tools
“does the same or better, without AI regurgitation and a WordPress theme”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “A web page that shows you everything the browser told it without asking” “Cover Your Tracks is the spiritual ancestor of this whole piece.”
Comment from 8 May 2026 in “A web page that shows you everything the browser told it without asking” “This is better than the OP in practically every conceivable way”
Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: GlassBox – what the browser reveals, and how identifiable you are”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Only compares against its own visitors
“The EFF test is very flawed because it only tests your uniqueness among the other visitors to that site”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Fingerprints are the new cookies” “that EFF site only checks against other people who visited the same site, so the results are skewed”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services” Gives false results on iPhones
“It will give ridiculous and easily provably false results for iPhones.”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Explore what the browser exposes about you” “giving probably false numbers that are several orders of magnitude off”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “Show HN: Explore what the browser exposes about you” Poorly explained results, unclear tracking risk
“this test doesn't really communicate the results very well”
Comment from 12 Dec 2025 in “The Tor Project is switching to Rust” “probably doesn't reflect if you can be tracked”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “Europe is scaling back GDPR and relaxing AI laws”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cover Your Tracks by EFFThis page | 13 | 9 | 59% | 6 | — | — |
| AmIUnique | 6 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
20 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The EFF test is very flawed because it only tests your uniqueness among the other visitors to that site”
“This is better than the OP in practically every conceivable way”
“For real population numbers, Cover Your Tracks and AmIUnique have the datasets.”
“if you really want to know what your browser is sending”
“does the same or better, without AI regurgitation and a WordPress theme”
“the EFF one[0] is informative”
“Cover Your Tracks is the spiritual ancestor of this whole piece.”
“the EFF tool is very minimal”
“it's pretty annoying they don't do that”
“EFFs demo site is non-profit and doesn't require login”
“breaks down a lot of the bits of data used”
“that EFF site only checks against other people who visited the same site, so the results are skewed”
“it still gives a nice summary of bits of info your browser leaks and how fingerprinting basically works”
“This tool is deeply flawed. Fingerprinting protection is sometimes done by binning, which this tool rewards”
“this test doesn't really communicate the results very well”
“giving probably false numbers that are several orders of magnitude off”
“which will actually provide details about how you're a special snowflake, tracked by advertisers”
“It will give ridiculous and easily provably false results for iPhones.”
“shows the individual uniqueness of each attribute”
“probably doesn't reflect if you can be tracked”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.