Reset Safari's Private Browsing Data

Without private browsing, if I visit a site such as reddit, login, and check the "remember me" box, Safari will effectively remember me until I do a Reset Safari with everything checked (this is the expected behavior).  However, if I do exactly the same thing with Private Browsing enabled, Reset Safari stops working as expected for the data saved during a Private Browsing session.  Worse, the data Safari saves during the Private Browsing session stays permanently, so quitting and restarting Safari does not fix the problem, as once I re-enable Private Browsing, reddit will remember me again.
I've tried everything I could to reset my Private Browsing data but apparently it keeps coming back.  I have plugins and Java disabled, so it can't be Flash; I've even gone as far as to remove the ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari and ~/Library/Safari directories entirely to no avail, reddit continues to remember me in Private Browsing no matter what I do and only when Private Browsing is enabled (which is kind of ironic).
Obviously I'm not concerned about reddit itself, but if reddit, which has no ill intent, can remember me, then I wonder how much data is being saved without my knowledge that I can't remove during a private browsing session.

Vaelian, I face this bug, too. Did you find any solution or reported the bug, already?
With Wireshark, I was able to verify that Apple simply sends the Cookie. Nobody (Flash, Java or HTML itself) did request the Cookie. The cache and cookies for private-browsing are kept as long as I am logged in. If you turn off private-browsing, Apple uses Library/Cookies/Cookies.binarycookies and therefore, the cookie is not present. However, if you turn on private-browsing again, the Cookie magically appears! I checked my whole disk and could not find the private-brwosing cookie-store. I guess, it is stored somewhere in RAM.
My solution:
I logged-out via Apple menu. Alternatively, I restart the whole computer. Then, all cached data and the cookies of my private-browsing mode got deleted.
Side effects:
This private-browsing cookie-store gets corrupted after some time and I experienced the wildest errors on webpages. Again, logging out and logging in again, solved it.

Similar Messages

  • Reset Safari and private browsing

    Is the "resent safari" command simply making the browser as if you had started the session with the private browsing? What differences are there between the two?

    Hi,
    Is the "reset safari" command simply making the browser as if you had started the session with the private browsing?
    Yes.
    What differences are there between the two?
    When you perform a full reset of Safari you lose all your cookies, saved autofill information, history information and usernames/passwords. Bar keeping your bookmarks, it's as if you had never used Safari.
    With Private Browsing, you only lose the information since the initiation of the private browsing session. So, your history for example from prior the private browsing session is still available.

  • Does Safari's private browsing prevent accidental downloads of all kinds? Such as spyware, firmware and all others?

    I was browsing privately, but legally, (you can probably guess for what) when I accidentally clicked on a link that took me to a site of unspeakable and illegal horrors. I immediately closed the window, quit Safari, reset it cleared everything and then deleted it altogether. I am shaking right now. I have heard stories of the FBI raiding people's homes who become involved in sites like that one, intentionally or unintentionally. I pray to God that nothing was downloaded onto my laptop without my knowledge and I wanted to know if Safari's private browsing prevents downloads of that nature.
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    Safari can keep your browsing history private. When you turn on private browsing, Safari doesn’t remember the pages you visit, your search history, or your AutoFill information, so your partner cannot see where you have been, but you must also remember to also turn off acceptance of cookies.
    In all other respects Private Browsing is not as private as you might think:
    http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/how-to-make-safaris-private-browsing-fea ture-actually-private/
    http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=9054
    and then Apple's own advice from here: http://www.apple.com/pro/tips/privacy_safari.html
    "Note that the Private Browsing option does not prevent Safari from collecting cookies (the preference files automatically generated by many websites). The Reset Safari option clears all cookies. If you want to delete only certain ones, choose Preferences from the Safari menu, click the Security tab, and then click Show Cookies. You can select and delete individual cookies from the list that appears. Careful, though — if you’re a frequent web user, this list can be very, very long."
    which is itself incomplete, the relevant part being 'If you want to delete only certain ones.
    To that end it is useful to have Safari Cookies installed, which is the only cookie manager available for Safari:
    http://sweetpproductions.com/safaricookies/
    which automatically deletes all cookies not marked as 'favourites' when closing Safari. It does the same for Flash Cookies, but they are subject for themselves:
    From this website:
    http://machacks.tv/2009/01/27/flushapp-flash-cookie-removal-tool-for-os-x/
    For those who do not know about Flash cookies, more properly referred to as Local Shared Objects (LSO), they operate in a similar way to regular browser cookies but are stored outside the purview of your browser, meaning you cannot delete them from within your browser, whether Safari, Firefox, Opera or any other. Typically they are issued from sites or 3rd party sites that contain Adobe Flash content. Since virtually all internet advertising is  delivered in Flash, Google/Doudleclick and all other internet advertising companies are sure to be tracking your browsing behavior with Flash cookies. These companies can see you traverse the Internet as you come upon the plethora of sites that contain their embedded advertising. Check out the Wikipedia entry here.
    In Mac OS X they are stored in the following location:
    /User’s Home Folder/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/#SharedObjects
    The settings for the Flash cookies are stored in:
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    In OS X Local Shared Objects, or Flash Cookies, are appended with a .sol suffix. Flush deletes all the Flash cookies (.sol) and their settings.
    Flush can be downloaded from that page.
    If you want to retain certain Flash cookies but not others, the excellent add-on for Safari called SafariCookies now includes a setting for automatically deleting flash cookies you don't want to retain, when Safari is shut down, in the same as it deals with ordinary cookies:
    http://www.sweetpproductions.com/safaricookies/index.htm
    which not only does that but much more equally useful stuff!
    This article covers the issue in more depth:
    http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/you-deleted-your-cookies-think-again/
    Flash cookies are also known as 'Zombie Cookies' and are used by a number of firms, including Hulu, MTV, and Myspace. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at the internet security firm Sophos, told BBC News that the source of the trouble was Adobe Flash itself, which he called "one of the weirdest programs on the planet".
    "I think it's highly unlikely that these large companies have abused Flash cookies - which are different from browser cookies - with malicious intent," he said.
    "I think it's much more likely that the vast majority of users are simply oblivious to the bizarre way in which Adobe allows them to configure the software."
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10787882
    And a more recent article:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/technology/21cookie.html?_r=3&scp=1&sq=flash&s t=cse
    [b]Tracker cookies and the invisible web:[/b]
    – tags, web bugs, pixels and beacons that are included on web pages in order to get an idea of your online behavior.
    Ghostery tracks the trackers and gives you a roll-call of the ad networks, behavioral data providers, web publishers, and other companies interested in your activity.
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  • IPhone 5 Safari Faking "Private Browsing" Mode

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    Apple’s privacy policy with the current version of Safari for iPhone 5 (within IOS 7.1.2 11D257) is very clear:
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    Apple stated that, “Websites can’t modify information stored on your device,…” yet I have in front of me proof that web sites CAN and DO modify information on my device while Safari’s “private browsing is on. This is very deceptive and a nasty way to treat customers who bought one of the most expensive PDA/smart phones on the market and now find that they have no web browsing security (Safari ignoring secure web site security certificate revocations, can’t detect bogus or malicious secure web sites), and apparently zero web browsing privacy, after Apple promised exactly the opposite.
    Has anyone else finding that their web browsing security has been compromised with a recent vintage iPhone?

    I’ve wiped the web cache several times since then. Several times I found more cookies in the web cache, at least once found over a hundred items, mostly for web sites I didn’t visit even once, but were all in my Safari bookmarks. Apparently, in addition to everything else going on, Apple appears to be rooting through my bookmarks without my permission.
    Using Steve Gibson’s Cookie Forensics web page (https://www.grc.com/cookies/forensics.htm) I confirmed that web sites are able to save and retrieve cookie data from my iPhone with Private Browsing enabled. That violates Apple’s stated privacy policy.
    The cookies that keep reappearing in the web cache, which also violates Apple’s stated privacy policy, apparently are leftovers from Safari crashes. I see five crashes in the past month, and crash logs for Safari going back to last year. Per my earlier post, after tapping the "delete" button, the cookies immediately disappeared, but then all came back at least once within a few seconds. That means IOS was hiding, and not deleting, the web cache when the "delete" button was tapped. The reappearing cookies are also only being hidden from the user, and become visible when a device crash prevents IOS from keeping the cookies hidden, since they've been in the web cache all the time.
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    Apple’s privacy policy for is a lie. Mobile Safari has no “Private Browsing Mode.”

  • HT1677 In iOS 7.1 I cannot find how to set Safari to Private browsing on iPad. Does anyone know?

    I upgraded my iPad to iOS 7.1 and now the option to set Safari into Private browsing has disappeared. Any hints where this is moved now?

    When top is white Private Browsing is off (tap to enlarge image)
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  • When I try to sync my iPod iCal with my MBP iCal via WiFi I get a message saying "Safari Downloading Safe Browsing Data" but I am connected to a local network and thus the syncing does not complete"

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  • Safari 4 & Private Browsing fails to work

    Safari 4 & Private Browsing fails to work.
    I check Private Browsing, accept what it says, and when I quit I expect that it will clear all that I want it to. But it is still there 100%. Any one see this problem?
    -Apple //GS

    Hi
    You're welcome.
    Which plist did you trash?
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  • Safari and Private Browsing

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  • Does Safari log Private Browsing toggling?

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