TransWikia.com

How does Facebook know I am the same person/computer trying to make separate accounts using different browsers?

Web Applications Asked by TARKUS on November 3, 2021

Question:
The essential question here is how does Facebook know I am the same unit that is trying to create a new account, even after I have deleted all cookies/history/cache from my browser, and even after installing a completely new browser and trying to create a new account from a completely newly installed browser?

History:
Facebook has deactivated my primary account. The message is "doesn’t follow our community standards."

What I am trying to achieve:
Create an entirely new and different user account.

What I have tried:

  1. CHROME: Logging out, trying to create a new account using a new email. Produces the same message, and it doesn’t work.
  2. CHROME: Deleting everything, every cookie, history, and cached content. Create new user with a different email. Same problem, my account has been deactivated (see screenshot)
  3. Installed OPERA, started from scratch. New username, new email. I switch wi-fi from my phone tether to my house wi-fi. Now I have a completely brand new browser, with a completely different IP. I create a brand new user, new name, birthday, email, password. Whamo! – same message. Definitely not cached. They are tracking me in some way other than a browser cookie.

Browser cookies only work within the same browser. But I started from scratch using a newly installed different browser (Opera), connected to a completely different network, and used completely different credentials. They still have identified me. How?

Your account has been disabled

One Answer

I'm not certain of how Facebook may be doing this but I do have some ideas as to what to try. I'll skip over what you've done already.

A good idea would be to use a VPN and a new browser and see if you can make a new account, I would also avoid maximizing the browser window and ensure the browser is not sharing your location data.

Bear in mind that web applications can use other techniques like browser fingerprinting, location data, cached image validation to try and uniquely identify users.

As far as what VPN and Browser to use, it is entirely up to you. I know that ProtonVPN offer VPNs for free, and Brave browser is the browser most security conscious people tend to use. If this is not successful, you could try using TOR!

I am not affiliated with any of the products/services or companies mentioned here, I am just sharing my own experience. Let us know how you get on and what works!

Answered by Matt on November 3, 2021

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP