According to researchers including two of Indian-origin, online behaviour can be identified by linking anonymous web browsing histories with your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles. Researchers from the Princeton and Stanford universities found that anyone with access to browsing histories can identify many users by analysing public information from social media accounts. "Our results suggest that pseudonymous browsing histories fail this test," the researchers wrote. It was found that online advertising companies build browsing histories of users with tracking programmes embedded on web pages. "Each person's browsing history is unique and contains tell-tale signs of their identity," wrote Sharad Goel, Assistant Professor at Stanford University.

Source: India Today January 20, 2017 11:49 UTC