Browsing Behavior Exposes Identities on the Web

> At any rate, this privacy threat is critical given the growing concern among users about their digital footprints—a recent survey found that seven out of every ten people have taken actions to protect their online identity, from disabling cookies to using virtual private networks

The absence of cookie persistence could, in theory, also be used as a highly unique fingerprint.

VPNs (those paid ones that advertise everywhere) are a privacy-breaking buffet. You're literally giving away your navigation pattern, and signaling that you have something to hide or protect.

Those are not preventive actions.

> For example, Google AdSense

This stuff is much deeper than ads or navigation patterns (I understand the paper focuses on those, it's fine). People have no idea.

> future legal and policy frameworks

That's the only reasonable way to protect privacy. I hate to admit it and I resisted for a long time, but regulation is the only way of doing it. Otherwise, it's an arms race.