Browser Fingerprinting: How Websites Track You Online Without Using Cookies

·1 views

Browser fingerprinting is a tracking technique that allows websites to identify and follow users across the internet without relying on cookies. Instead of storing data on a user's device, websites collect details about the browser and system configuration, such as screen resolution, installed fonts, and plugins, to build a unique profile. This combination of attributes acts like a digital fingerprint that can distinguish one user from another with high accuracy. Unlike cookies, fingerprinting operates invisibly in the background, making it difficult for users to detect or block. The method raises significant privacy concerns as it bypasses many conventional cookie-blocking and privacy tools.

Read the full story at Hacker News

This is an AI-generated summary. ShortSingh links to the original source for the complete article.

Discussion (0)

Six Common React Native Accessibility Bugs and How Developers Can Fix Them

A review of numerous React Native codebases has identified six accessibility bugs that appear consistently across apps, ranging from missing labels on icon buttons to insufficient color contrast in dark themes. WCAG 2.2 AA is now the enforceable standard for mobile app accessibility following the EU Accessibility Act, and ADA lawsuits targeting mobile apps are on the rise. Common issues include grouped elements being read as separate items by screen readers, modal backgrounds remaining audible to VoiceOver despite visual overlays, and loading states that give no audio feedback to blind users. Developers are advised to use React Native's built-in accessibility props correctly and to extend tap targets using hitSlop for better usability. Testing tools such as @testing-library/react-native and axe DevTools, combined with manual VoiceOver and TalkBack checks, are recommended to catch failures before release.

0 comments Read more at DEV Community

ProgrammingDEV Community ·

GPT-5.6 Launch Exposes Token Waste Problem That Bigger Plans Cannot Solve

OpenAI released the GPT-5.6 model family on July 10, 2026, integrating it with a unified ChatGPT desktop app alongside Codex. Despite OpenAI claiming roughly 54% better token efficiency for coding tasks, developers on paid plans quickly reported hitting usage limits faster than with the previous GPT-5.5 generation. The core issue, according to the article, is that more capable models encourage heavier agent usage, which cancels out efficiency gains through unnecessary context being sent repeatedly. Tools like Claude Code's new /checkup command now actively flag such inefficiencies, signaling that context bloat is a recognised industry-wide problem. Developers are increasingly turning to context-engineering and memory-management tools, with install data suggesting the ecosystem is shifting focus from expanding agent capability to reducing token waste.

0 comments Read more at DEV Community

ProgrammingDEV Community ·

How Text-to-Speech Technology Converts Words Into Natural-Sounding Audio

Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology converts written text into spoken audio through a multi-stage pipeline. The process begins with text normalization, which standardizes input by expanding abbreviations and converting numbers into words, followed by phonetic transcription that maps text to basic sound units. A prosody generation stage then determines rhythm, stress, and intonation to make speech sound natural and expressive. The final stage, waveform synthesis, produces the actual audio using methods ranging from stitching pre-recorded fragments to advanced neural models like Tacotron and WaveNet. Deep learning now sits at the core of modern TTS systems, enabling models trained on large datasets to generate increasingly human-like voices.

0 comments Read more at DEV Community

ProgrammingHacker News ·

EU Commission finds Instagram and Facebook violate DSA over addictive design

The European Commission has determined that Instagram and Facebook are in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) due to their use of addictive design features. The ruling targets Meta's platforms specifically over design choices that regulators believe are engineered to maximize user engagement in harmful ways. The DSA, the EU's landmark digital regulation, sets strict obligations on large online platforms regarding user protection. This finding could expose Meta to significant penalties under the DSA's enforcement framework. The Commission's decision marks a significant step in European efforts to hold major social media platforms accountable for their design practices.

0 comments Read more at Hacker News