What a site knows about you without asking
When you open a page, your browser shares some information on its own, because it’s needed to display it: device type, browser, language, screen size. Your IP address gives your approximate area. It’s not a conspiracy: it’s how the web normally works. The point is what some do with it.
Cookies, trackers and “browser fingerprinting”
Third-party cookies are small files that let a company recognise you across many different sites. Browser fingerprinting is a quieter method: it combines many device characteristics that together can make it recognisable even without cookies. In Europe, tracking you this way requires your consent.
How to avoid being tracked: what works
Refuse non-essential cookies, use separate profiles for banking and fun, remove extensions you don’t use, block trackers at home network level. For passwords: a different one for each site, and a check in case they end up in a breach. And keep a copy of your files off your computer: that’s what really saves you when things go wrong.
Beyond antivirus: something that knows your normal
A classic antivirus relies mostly on what’s already known. Oravio OS starts from what’s normal for you and flags what behaves differently, in plain words, asking for a yes before touching anything. It works alongside the protection you already have.