“This connection is not private" Safari message

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Level 1

15 points

“This connection is not private" Safari message

Some months ago I started getting this message regularly when using Safari. Rather than push through and have to enter a password, I switched to Chrome and the sites would open. Eventually I got sick of it happening regularly and switched Chrome to the default browser. Problem fixed.

Yesterday the problem popped up again with Chrome. Also Firefox and Safari. I have picked the first site it happened for and identified the problem as an expired root on the SSL certificate.

The thing is I can open this website with an iPhone, iPad and Surface Pro. Similarly the company's management and IT team do not get the message. So why has the problem started suddenly, why my Macbook Pro and why now and not last week and importantly how can I stop it?

BTW, the clock has the same system time as the Surface Pro to the second, I have emptied caches and have actually deleted and reinstalled Chrome. There are no random certificates in keychain, see below and the problem exists in dark mode too. So none of the usual suggestions in Google searches have worked.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Oct 1, 2021 4:01 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

MrHoffman

Community+ 2024

Level 10

127,191 points

Oct 2, 2021 1:49 PM in response to kiwiappleman

Yeah, the LetsEncrypt root certificate expired (see circle in photo below), and your Mac is running a version too old to have picked up the update, or security updates have been disabled.

If you cannot update your Mac past OS X 10.11, or have to keep security updates disabled, see this thread for more info:

SSL certificate expiry - Apple Community

Links there on how to upgrade macOS to at least macOS 10.13 and preferably newer, too. This if your Mac supports that upgrade. (If you’re not sure, post the Mac model and Mac model year from 🍎 > About This Mac, and with both the model and the year somebody here can provide you with your available upgrade options.)

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Answer 2

kamote0628

Community Specialist

Oct 2, 2021 1:29 PM in response to kiwiappleman

Hi kiwiappleman, We appreciate you reaching out to us. We understand that you are experiencing site connectivity issues, and you've narrowed it down to an expired root on the SSL certificate.

We recommend that you check if the issue persists while on safe mode. Below is an article to help guide you through the process.

How to use safe mode on your Mac

Also, we recommend that you check if the issue persists when signed in on a different user account. The article below can help if you do not have any other user account to test with.

Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac

Take care!

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Answer 3

kiwiappleman Author

Level 1

15 points

Oct 2, 2021 6:20 PM in response to MrHoffman

Thanks Mr Hoffman. I have also had a detailed answer provided to YvonneMaria here;

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253207849?answerId=256006960022#256006960022

The background is here:

https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/21/lets-encrypt-root-expiry/

But thanks so much for the link which I missed first time through the Community. As you have pointed put I need to upgrade to a new OS, just not Catalina or Big Sur.

Also maybe time to buy a new machine sometime soon. I wonder if Apple will produce a full OS touch screen device. I need write on screen for meetings, marking up documents etc. but iOS is not an adequate solution for working in the office. So two devices for Apple vs one for an MS product....

Thanks again for helping, much appreciated.

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Answer 4

Oct 2, 2021 6:38 PM in response to kiwiappleman

You should be upgrading your Mac software version a little more often than once every ~five years or so, yes.

It is possible to the new LetsEncrypt root on OS X 10.11.

The further back one gets with hardware and software, the more effort is involved to upgrade to ~current, unfortunately.

Log your touchscreen Mac product feedback for Apple, as they may or may not see that here: Product Feedback - Apple

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“This connection is not private" Safari message

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