🛡️ Digital Footprint Detection Browser Extension

A privacy-centric Chrome/Chromium browser extension that detects trackers, cookies, fingerprints, and security signals in real-time — analyzes a browsing session’s digital footprint and presents actionable insights.

🚀 Project Overview

Modern web browsing exposes users to a mix of tracking mechanisms — from simple cookies to complex device fingerprinting techniques. Traditional tools often offer fragmented or raw data with limited visibility. This extension centralizes multiple layers of browser privacy analysis into a unified, interactive dashboard, empowering users to understand and control their digital exposure.

Through real-time monitoring and risk scoring, the extension evaluates each visited website on privacy and security parameters, helping users make informed decisions about their online behavior.

🧩 Key Features

Feature	Description
🍪 Cookie Monitoring	Enumerates cookies set by first- and third-party domains.
👣 Tracker Detection	Flags known tracking domains and third-party scripts.
🧠 Fingerprint Analysis	Identifies common fingerprinting elements in the current page.
📊 Dynamic Risk Score	Computes a session privacy risk score based on detected elements.
🔐 Security Signals	Captures and displays SSL/TLS certificate details of the current site.
📁 Export Reports	Export collected session data as structured CSV or Excel files.
🌗 UI Themes	Supports light/dark mode for better accessibility.
⚙️ Real-Time Updates	Runs continuously while browsing to update insights live.

🛠️ How It Works (Technical Architecture)

This extension uses Chrome’s Manifest V3 APIs along with content and background scripts to perform deep session analysis:

📌 1. Manifest (manifest.json)

Defines:

• Required permissions (cookies, activeTab, webRequest, etc.)
• All scripts (background, content, popup)
• Icons and UI placements

This is the core metadata file that tells Chrome how to load/execute the extension.

📌 2. Content Script (content.js)

Injected into each web page:

• Inspects webpage DOM
• Extracts fingerprinting markers
• Detects scripts, iframes, and tracker behavior

Data collected here is passed to the background script via Chrome’s messaging API.

📌 3. Background Script (background.js)

Acts as a long-running controller:

• Receives messages from content scripts
• Aggregates tracking/cookie/fingerprint data
• Computes the privacy risk score
• Stores session data temporarily
• Handles communication with the popup UI

The background context persists across page navigations.

📌 4. Popup UI (popup.html, popup.js, styles.css)

User Interaction Layer:

• Displays session summary, cookie/tracker lists, and risk score
• Allows Export and Theme Selection
• Offers intuitive charts/tables for quick insights

The UI queries the background script for the latest aggregated data.

📌 5. Data Encryption (Optional Utility, e.g., dataEncryption.js)

If present, this utility can:

• Secure sensitive storage in chrome.storage or IndexedDB
• Hash or encrypt data before export or storage

Use this for safeguarding user data while persisting or exporting reports.

📦 Repository Structure

Digital-Footprint-Detection-Browser-Extension/

├── background.js # Manages global extension logic

├── content.js # Page-level scanning for trackers/fingerprint

├── dataEncryption.js # (Optional) Secure storage/encryption utilities

├── icon.png # Extension icon

├── manifest.json # Chrome extension metadata & permissions

├── popup.html # Popup dashboard UI

├── popup.js # Popup UI controller

├── styles.css # UI styling

└── README.md # Project documentation

📥 Installation (For Developers & Testers)

To install locally for testing or development:

1. Clone the repository

   bash git clone https://github.com/vedantjoshi654/Digital-Footprint-Detection-Browser-Extension.git

2. Open Chrome/Edge/Brave Go to:

   chrome://extensions/

3. Enable Developer Mode Toggle the switch in the top-right corner.

4. Load unpacked extension Click Load unpacked and select the cloned project directory.

5. The extension icon will appear in the toolbar — click it to view the dashboard.

🎯 Using the Extension

1. Visit any website.

2. Click the extension toolbar icon.

3. The popup will show:

   • List of detected cookies
   • Identified trackers & fingerprint signals
   • Session risk score
   • SSL/TLS status and security flags
   • Export options (CSV/Excel)

Note: You may need to grant specific permissions if prompted.

🛡️ Risk Scoring Explained

The extension creates a composite risk score based on:

• Number and type of trackers
• Presence of persistent cookies
• Evidence of fingerprinting patterns
• Security indicators from certificate information

Scores help users quickly assess how “privacy aggressive” a session or site is.

🧪 Developer Notes

• The extension uses Chrome Manifest V3 event-driven background scripts.
• Messaging between content and background layers uses chrome.runtime.sendMessage.
• Persistent data (if any) should use chrome.storage.local or IndexedDB for scoped browser storage.
• IndexedDB may be used to store larger session logs and export history.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome — whether:

• Improving detection heuristics
• Adding new threat signals (e.g., WebRTC leaks)
• Enhancing UI visualizations
• Supporting Firefox/Edge cross-compatibility

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/xyz).
3. Submit a pull request with detailed description.

📜 License

This project is open-source.