The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) stands as the bedrock protocol for the transmission of hypermedia documents, including HTML. In online communication, HTTP headers take center stage. These header fields, akin to strings of information, and the exchange of data between clients and servers during requests and responses.
Within the realm of HTTP headers lies a lot of information, accessible to the websites you explore. These headers act as envoys, carrying details about your online persona, including your user agent, language preferences, and more. It's like providing a digital introduction to the places you visit, allowing websites to adapt to your specific needs. HTTP headers are also readable by the sites you visit. They contain data about your:
- User Agent
- Language
- Miscellaneous
Crucially, the data contained in HTTP headers must maintain stability with other sources of information, such as browser fingerprints. This ensures a seamless blend of your online identity across diverse platforms. The Base Profile holds all the necessary data, creating a unified and consistent digital profile. For a closer look, delve into the HTTP headers section on Whoer.net, offering an insightful window into your digital footprint.
However, we issue a word of caution against manual overrides. Attempting to tweak these settings independently could disrupt your profile. This concern is especially relevant as certain pieces of data, notably user agent and language, can be extracted through alternative methods. For instance, Javascript Navigator Object can also be employed to fetch this information. In other words, our approach ensures a finely tuned collection of data, and any manual overrides would risks compromising that data.
As you navigate the internet, rest assured that you HTTP headers, along with your user agent and language preferences, are well managed. The digital fingerprint you leave behind is not just a collection of random characters; it's an expression of your online self, made into a tailored web experience.
The User-Agent is a crucial component of the HTTP header that a client (typically a web browser) sends to the server when making an HTTP request. It provides information about the client, including details about the software, operating system, and sometimes the device type. The User-Agent header allows servers to tailor their responses based on the characteristics of the client, optimizing the delivery of content for the specific browser or device.
A typical User-Agent string from the above image, named as "HTTP_USER_AGENT" can be broken down like this:
- Mozilla/5.0: Indicates compatibility and general platform information.
- (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64): Specifies the operating system.
- AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko): Identifies the browser engine.
- Chrome/66.0.3359.181 Safari/537.36: Details the browser and its version.
It's worth noting that there is a significant shift in major browsers, including Chrome, towards reducing the information in the user agent string. This change aims to to make user privacy better, by making it more challenging to identify and track users based on their device and browser details. With this move towards greater privacy and a reduction in detailed user agent information, obtaining specific details, like the exact Android version and device model from browser fingerprints, is becoming more challenging, particularly in newer versions of Chrome, as can be seen in the example that was made by one of our developers:
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 10; K) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/119.0.0.0 Mobile Safari/537.36
Determining the device model from a user agent string can be challenging because it's not standardized, and different manufacturers and devices might include different information or use different formats. However, you can make educated guesses based on common patterns.
In the provided user agent string, you see "Linux" and "Android 10," which indicates the operating system and version. Unfortunately, there is no device model explicitly mentioned. Manufacturers may sometimes include the device model in the user agent, but it's not guaranteed.
Lastly, in Microsoft Edge (and also in Google Chrome), sites can differentiate between users on Windows 11 and Windows 10, and can detect the CPU architecture of the device, via User-Agent Client Hints (UA-CH).
The very same issue also occurs in the case with Windows 10/11 operating systems. The User-Agent does not contain information on the specific OS version, in this case it would be necessary to use client hints.
This information can be found in the following UA-CH request headers:
| Header field | Values that indicate Windows 10 | Values that Indicate Windows 11 |
| Sec-CH-UA-Platform | Windows | Windows |
| Sec-CH-UA-Platform-Version | Values between 1.0.0 and 10.0.0 | 13.0.0 and above |