Tbb (version 12) Fingerprint (massive difference from previous versions)

Seasons Greetings :person_raising_hand:& Merry Christmas :christmas_tree: (very soon for most) !

While erring on the side of caution, I figured I should share this observation with the family of diligent Whonix users :heart_eyes:

Has any kind soul noticed the significant change in the fingerprint for the just released version 12 of Tbb? (The one which incorporated multiple language feature over the past practice of the one which defaults in English.) I updated with the built-in upgrading feature. I did not use the Whonix downloader which presently needs to be tweaked for the significantly changed Tbb. Using the new Tbb within the standard Whonix qube (vm) and the disposable Whonix qube showed the same predilection - the very high value of 15 vs all previous Tbb releases.

The newly issued Tbb threw me off completely with a “15.nn” across several computers.

Background:
I make it a practice to review each new release with a cursory check at
https://coveryourtracks.eff.org (It’s predecessor was panopticlick

**Previous Tbb Invariably convey 6.nn bits of identifying information or with values hovering between 5 and 6)

To alleviate any potential user induced changes, I always make sure to drive the “fingerprint test from the EFF” on of the Tbb in its fresh original state “OEM” with the security level set to “safest”.

Lastly, all such “tyre-kicking” checks are done on Qubes-Whonix machines and Linux workstations with Whonix.

Thank you.
Please stay safe and bundle-up during these trying times. :heart:

Related:
Tor Browser Essentials chapter Whonix Tor Browser (Non-)Differences in Whonix wiki

And likely the same thing would happen if Tor Browser was tested on (non-Qubes) Debian.

related:
Tor Browser Essentials chapter Tor Browser Functionality on Different Platforms in Whonix wiki

Dedicated forum topic (resolved):

Thank you Patrick!

My brother suggested I wait a few days or a week to let the new release “settle-in” as more users get the upgrade. He reminded me about the EFF dataset being driven by the myraid of visitors using the test for the new version. Obviously I had forgotten abour that basic premise inasmuch as you had indicated on the “limitations” of such “validation/testing techniques” employed by any test. I just ran another test and this time, the returned result indicated a value of 9.15.

Cheers.