Cookies set to "Never" but Safari now accepts all cookies anyway

I've just updated Safari to 5.1.7 (I'm on Snow Leopard 10.6.8) and am quite happy to report that resetting Safari clears everything the first time (no more resetting it, reopening and resetting it again). If you choose "Remove all website data" with sites still open, then sites will of course still populate cache, but resetting works as it should (and as it used to). I normally reset Safari regularly, and am glad it's back to clearing everything properly.

Again, as I've described before, I use Safari as my speedy lightweight general browser, with all cookies, flash, and anything else I can disable disabled. If I want to use a site with cookies, then I use FireFox which I have set to clear everything upon closing. As the saying goes, "If it's not open source, pray the source never gets leaked." I trust FireFox with security, because people around the world are constantly sniffing out every angle on it. I only use one site with cookies at a time, and quit and relaunch FireFox if I want to use another. The whole issue with cookies are those that can get info from other cookies (like your bank accounts passwords, etc.) which is why I never use more than one site with cookies at a time, that way I don't have to worry about a site grabbing cookie info, becuase there are no cookies for it to grab. Simple as that. Most of my friends have a "What me worry?" approach to security. To each their own.

I do the same thing with my iOS devices. Safari is the general browser, with cookies etc., disabled, and I use another browser with cookies (that clears itself when closing) for sites that need cookies. Having said that, I almost never use the other browser, because I can do my banking with dedicated apps.

Well, I thought it was fixed. I continue to see "local storage" items reappear (and only those). It usually takes a couple of resets to clear those out. Funny, it's only things tagged "local storage."

Security Update 2013-001 for SL brought safari to 5.1.8 and fixed this issue for me (even thought that wasn't listed in the update notes)

There is a related post by Yank7 titled "Safari Automatically Adds FaceBook Cookies" posted Apr 5, 2013 10:52 AM; with latest reply Apr 6, 2013 2:18 PM by Yank7.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4946526?answerId=21717964022#21717964022

There is a related post by Steffen Bendix titled "How to completely block Facebook" posted Apr 20, 2012 12:27 AM; with latest reply Jul 31, 2012 8:46 AM by Steffen Bendix.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3889736?answerId=18179010022#18179010022

What I get out of this, after reading through all the replies in these posts, is that:

1) These FaceBook and other cookies are kept on your computer regardless of your preference settings, removal of all website data, and multiple resets

2) Safari > Preferences > Privacy > Details shows a list not just of cookies, but also cache and local storage

3) The cookies shown, when Preferences are set to reject cookies, are actually being stored in cache instead of being rejected; however, to the website it appears that the cookies are rejected

3) This ability for cookies to repopulate themselves regardless of the user's settings and actions is a Safari security issue that Apple doesn't address and hasn't addressed for over two years

4) There is no way to prevent FaceBook and other sites from repopulating themselves on your computer, i.e., there is no solution to this problem

5) The steps taken by users to best protect themselves are:

- Use Safari with Preference Setting > Always Block Cookies; use Firefox for those sites that require cookies to access (such as signing in to Apple Support or bank sites); set Firefox to remove all data upon closing

- Use Safari > Private Browsing for every Safari session (I'm personally annoyed that this can't be set and retained under Preferences, but instead must be invoked for every Safari session)

- Use StartPage.com or ixQuick.com for searches that will not collect or share your personal data

- Reset and also Remove All Website Data on Safari often

6) Again, there is no solution to this problem; all that you can do is to protect yourself as best as you can