Websites using Browserleaks

Okay, let s break down BrowserLeaks.com, covering its overview, revenue (though challenging to pinpoint precisely), alternatives, pricing (which is largely free), and customer care.

BrowserLeaks.com Overview

BrowserLeaks is a website dedicated to providing free online tools that allow users to check and understand what information their web browser and computer are leaking to websites they visit. It doesn t offer a product for purchase; it s primarily an educational and testing resource.

Key Features:

• Browser Fingerprinting Tests: These tests reveal unique characteristics about your browser configuration, including:
  • User-Agent: Identifies the browser, operating system, etc.
  • Installed Fonts: A surprising identifier as font lists can be quite unique.
  • Screen Resolution and Color Depth:
  • WebGL and Canvas Fingerprinting: These identify your graphics hardware and driver.
  • Installed Plugins:
  • Cookies, Local Storage, and Session Storage: Shows which are being stored by websites.
  • IP Address and Geo Location:
• Network Tests: These help reveal information about your network connections:
  • WebRTC Leak Test: Checks for IP address leaks through WebRTC (often used in video conferencing).
  • DNS Leak Test: Verifies if DNS requests are going through your intended server.
  • HTTP Header Check: Shows all the headers sent by your browser to a website.
• Privacy Tools & Information:
  • Provides articles and explanations on privacy risks related to browser data.
  • Offers information on how to mitigate fingerprinting risks.
  • Helps understand cookie policies.

Purpose:

• Education: To raise awareness about the data that websites can collect without users direct knowledge.
• Testing: To allow users to test their own browser configurations and identify vulnerabilities.
• Privacy: To empower users to take steps to protect their online privacy.
• Free and Accessible: The website is designed to be available to anyone without cost.

Revenue:

This is the most challenging area to nail down definitively for BrowserLeaks.com.

• No Direct Product Sales: BrowserLeaks does not sell any products, subscriptions, or memberships.
• Advertising: The primary source of revenue for websites like BrowserLeaks is typically through ads. You will notice Google Ads or similar on the website. However, the level of traffic is unknown, so it s impossible to say how much revenue they might generate.
• Affiliate Marketing: Some privacy-focused websites also incorporate affiliate links, but this is difficult to detect with certainty.
• Donations: Often privacy-focused sites have the option to donate, this might be a secondary source of revenue for BrowserLeaks.
• Data Sale: There s no indication of BrowserLeaks selling or using the personal data of visitors. The website s main objective is to demonstrate how data is collected.

Estimating Revenue: It s nearly impossible to accurately estimate revenue without access to BrowserLeak s internal financial data. Given its free nature, revenue is probably limited to what their ads generate. It s safe to say they aren t in the millions of dollars and most likely operating as a side project of an individual or a small team, rather than a major revenue generating entity.

Alternatives:

While BrowserLeaks provides a comprehensive suite of tests, several other websites offer similar or overlapping functionality. Here are some alternatives:

• Panopticlick (Electronic Frontier Foundation - EFF): A very well-regarded, and possibly the most widely known browser fingerprinting tester, by the non-profit EFF.
• AmIUnique: Focuses on identifying how unique your browser s fingerprint is among its user base.
• Whoer.net: Offers a wider range of tests, including proxy and VPN leak testing.
• Pixelscan: Another tool for testing browser fingerprinting, with a focus on detecting common methods of data extraction.
• IPLeak.net: Concentrates on IP address, WebRTC, and DNS leak testing.
• Cover Your Tracks (EFF): The EFF now has replaced Panopticlick with this new tool, and includes a more detailed and easily understandable assessment.
• Device Info: Provides all kinds of technical information about the browser and device.

Pricing:

• Free: All tools and information on BrowserLeaks.com are completely free to use. There are no premium versions, paid features, or hidden charges.

Customer Care Details:

• No Direct Support: BrowserLeaks is not a product or service. There s no dedicated customer support team.
• Contact Form: There s a general contact form on the website for submitting questions, but it s likely not a quick response.
• Community Forums (Potentially): Some similar sites might have a community forum or Discord server, but I haven t found any associated with BrowserLeaks.
• Open Source Community: Some similar projects are open source, which may be an alternative channel for user support through the community. However BrowserLeaks appears to be a closed source project.

Summary

BrowserLeaks.com is a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning about and improving their online privacy. It provides a robust set of free tools to test browser fingerprinting, network leaks, and other privacy-related issues. Its main revenue source is through advertising, as it is not a product that is sold. While it lacks formal customer care, its educational content and free access make it a useful tool for privacy-conscious users. You should be aware that while BrowserLeaks is very useful, other sites exist with the same tools, and some of them have better explanations.