Website data from sites I've never visited

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Level 1

31 points

Website data from sites I've never visited

I have a new MacBook Pro. The previous laptop I had was an iBook G4. Instead of having cache and cookies separated, it's now all in one. I browse with cookies disabled turn them on for specific sites. Now that cookies and cache are combined, I'm seeing sites storing information (even though I have it set to not store anything) that I've never heard of or visited. I have information from 101cooks, 39degreesnorth, etc. I've never visited these sites ever. I have ad block, so I don't see ads, so I don't think the information could be from that?

Why am I getting this information stored on my computer? Is there a way just to have only the websites I want store information and deny everyone else?

Also, will Safari go back to having cache and cookies separated? On my iBook, I would clear my cache regularly and it wouldn't affect the cookies on my computer. Now if I clear my cache, it clears all my cookies so I have to go in and turn cookies on, log into the websites I want to store information and then turn cookies back off. Seems silly to have cookies and cache hand in hand.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Aug 26, 2013 12:45 PM

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Answer 1

andyBall_uk

Level 7

20,526 points

Aug 26, 2013 2:00 PM in response to pirhan

Regardless of directly visiting a site - Safari & other browsers will cache loaded content from them, if it's loaded via another site that you do visit. That content will show in safari - Preferences - Cookies & other website data - Details... from where you can delete it, and see what form the content takes : cache, cookies, local storage, plug-ins.

Cookies & cache are not combined, although you can now easily see what sites have stored cached & other content. Clearing Cache (from the Safari Develop menu, made visible through Safari - Preferences - Advanced) does not clear cookies.

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Answer 2

Aug 26, 2013 1:45 PM in response to pirhan

Clearing the cache does not delete cookies.

How are you emptying the cache?

I have information from 101cooks, 39degreesnorth, etc

If you click on a link within a website, that's where you may be collecting data.

If you want better cookies management, you'd be better off using a different browser.

Either Firefox or Chrome ..

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser

Chrome Browser

Good to have a backup browser installed in case you can't access the net with Safari.

Congrats on the new Mac. My iBookG4 running v10.4 still runs 😉

Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

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