iOS 10.3 Safari cookies won't delete

Popj wrote:

Sorry, posted too soon. When installing 10.3.3, it wiped clean the old super cookies from Safari. I had been fuming over this glitch for months and months, so was encouraged thinking the problem was fixed. But yes, ARRGH, new super cookies have since appeared and cannot be deleted. SO DISAPPOINTED APPLE!

No, super cookies have not appeared. "super cookies" are not cookies at all, and don't show up in your list of cookies. And iPhones are immune to them. What you have are plain, ordinary vanilla cookies. These are not a security risk and do not compromise any of your data. It's annoying that you can't delete them, but there is no harm in ignoring them. The zero length cookies contain no data at all; that is what a length of zero means. If they have no length they can't store any data. For some useful information about cookies in general, see: http://www.thesafemac.com/the-myth-of-the-dangerous-cookie/

I have also installed IOS 10.3.3, on my iPad but have been unsuccesful in erasing these "super cookies"; ran to the

Apple Store, booked an appointment with the "level two" experts at the Genius Bar. The technician first attempted to erase the "super cookies" using the book procedure without success; excused himself and went to the "back store" a couple of times came back and attempted to erase the cookies on his personal iPhone to realize that he too had the same problem. As a matter of fact, all his colleagues at the Geniois Bar had the same issue. I was then told that "it's a bug" and that nothing can be done and to contact the Apple "help" official website. I wish that Apple would take this issue seriously. Hopefully this issue will be resolved with the upcoming IOS 11.

I finally resolved the issue of those permanent "vanilla" or "super" cookies, some containing data that was adding up as I was visiting their websites, by erasing all content and settings from my iPad and follow the setup assistant procedure. I first erased all my favorites from Safari. I was able to retrieve my Apps and my books through the App Store and iBooks. The balance of my personal notes calendar (agenda) and photos were safely backed up on iCloud.

Has anyone taken the iOS 11 Beta to see whether this has been fixed? I have been doing iOS Beta tests since 10 hoping to see it fixed. (Switching betas is a pain: I have to un-enroll from the 10 program and re-enroll in the second, plus all the backups and restores that have to go on--all to do the job their QA/engineering should be doing.)

If Apple doesn't fix this bug in 11, I will shut off Safari and I will not be back.

Oh--and to the guy who thinks this is no big deal... let me install a camera in your house. I probably won't ever look at it, so it should not be a big deal, right? The point is, most of us did not opt in to anything, and these third party sites now have the potential to track us!

WestieLover2016 wrote:

Has anyone taken the iOS 11 Beta to see whether this has been fixed?

Because of the non-disclosure agreement, discussions of beta software are not permitted in the public forums.

WestieLover2016 wrote:

these third party sites now have the potential to track us!

No, they do not. You clearly have no understanding of cookies, what their capabilities are, and how they work. You can learn something by reading the link I provided earlier: http://www.thesafemac.com/the-myth-of-the-dangerous-cookie/

Third parties have many ways to track you, but cookies are not in the list. You are being tracked at this very moment just by being online. And if your cell phone is turned on it is being tracked also. And you can't do anything about it. But not because it has cookies on it. Simply because it is turned on.

It's interesting how many people get really upset about things that don't matter, and ignore the things that do matter.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

It's interesting how many people get really upset about things that don't matter, and ignore the things that do matter.

A form of the Streetlight Effect?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetlight_effect

The problem also exists in 10.3.2. I believe this is now a legal matter for Apple - not doing what they say with the function. Tricky, sneaky and beneath them.

If this is not fixed, I will need to switch to another brand.

jhermano872 wrote:

The problem also exists in 10.3.2. I believe this is now a legal matter for Apple - not doing what they say with the function. Tricky, sneaky and beneath them.

If this is not fixed, I will need to switch to another brand.

Please do! I'm sure that there isn't a single bug in Android or any other mobile OS.

For the record, this is an insignificant bug that causes no risk of anything other than being annoying if you actually look in the Settings, which the vast majority of users don't bother doing. I'm sure it's on Apple's list of thousands of things to fix, many of them much more important that this.

Whilst you might consider this an insignificant bug I disagree. The fact that there are multiple forum threads and many posts about the issue also point to the fact that it causes users some not insignificant fustration.

Also, third party cookies can indeed be used to track your internet use. If I go to site x with third party cookies enabled (or ios10.3 onwards that allows all cookies to be stored regardless of user settings) and then go to site y. If both sites use the same analytics or ad tracking, site y knows that I have been to site x. That is tracking! Spread that across multiple websites and a period of use and you can profile a users behaviours, habits and extrapolate a lot data from simple cookies. Again not my definition of insignificant...

Lumens wrote:

If I go to site x with third party cookies enabled (or ios10.3 onwards that allows all cookies to be stored regardless of user settings) and then go to site y. If both sites use the same analytics or ad tracking, site y knows that I have been to site x.

So disable 3rd party cookies (which is not broken). But using cookies for tracking is so last decade. Sites don't bother tracking with cookies anymore (most never did). They share user data with central data collectors such as Acxiom, who then consolidate it, merge it with data from other sources (e.g., Facebook, credit reporting agencies, etc), and create complete profiles of you, which they then sell. Whether you have cookies enabled or not. Whether you delete them or not. Cookies are the least of your problems if you are concerned about tracking.

I'm well aware of the myriad of ways to track usage, but in one of your posts above you stated third party cookies can't be used to track you and that simply isn't true.

I don't want to disable third party cookies, I rely on cookies to be tracked properly to result in correct affilate payments. Disabling third party cookies does not work on 10.3.3, at least on my device. I still get cookies written from sites I have not directly visited and they contain data. Also some of them cannot be deleted and still hold onto that data.

I just want what is a simple browser function to work as intended, i.e I select delete all cookies and history and it actually does it. At the moment it neither fully deletes cookies or the history.

I'm hopeful it will all be worked out in iOS11. The same issue has previously exsisted on MacOS Safari, but this now seems much more reliable.

Mr. Finch, you're being far too Pollyannish about this! 🙈 🙊 🙉

"No, they do not. You clearly have no understanding of cookies, what their capabilities are, and how they work."

That's a patronizing, snarky response to another use -- and to a serious concern!

"You can learn something by reading the link I provided earlier: http://www.thesafemac.com/the-myth-of-the-dangerous-cookie/"

Fine, I just read it and it dispels a series of strawman arguments -- and debunks only a few sweeping concerns that only SOME non-tech general members of the public have.

But we had to laugh. You wrote:

"Third parties have many ways to track you, but cookies are not in the list"

That web post you linked to actually states this:

"Another “evil” attributed to cookies is violating privacy. So-called “tracking cookies” are designed to track users’ movements between sites. Such things really do exist, but stories of their capabilities have attained mythical status. In reality, tracking cookies are often used by advertisers to track the sites visited by a particular user.."

So, tracking cookies do, in fact, exist! Indeed, there are many browser plug-ins that are designed specifically to block them. The "mythical" status the author refers to is just another strawman to knock down. Tracking cookies invade privacy and should be blocked. Indeed, the word on the street is that upcoming versions of browsers will automatically stop them!

So, we must now pose your very question and ask who has "no understanding of cookies, what their capabilities are, and how they work."! 😎

"You are being tracked at this very moment just by being online. And if your cell phone is turned on it is being tracked also. And you can't do anything about it. But not because it has cookies on it. Simply because it is turned on."

That's bad, but that doesn't mean the other concerns are not important. In fact, as many tech writers and privacy analysts have explained, tracking cookies are an even more pernicious form of that effort. Note: it's one thing for an ISP to have such data; it's quite another for a 3rd party to put something on your device that can monitor where you go for commercial, exploitative purposes. (Of course, ISPs are now getting into the business of monetizing their tracking data and that should concern us all.)

"It's interesting how many people get really upset about things that don't matter, and ignore the things that do matter."

Exactly! It's time for you to stop ignoring the issue and respect privacy -- and -- those of us who are concerned about it -- much more!

The bottom line is that few people accept a stalker who follows them from store to store, at the mall, around town, taking notes on where they shop, which places they visit, and is always right there at their shoulder, keeping notes. The police and existing laws wouldn't permit it, either! The Internet should be no different!

In any event, what you still haven't addressed is why, in the past, ALL cookies could be deleted under previous iOS versions, but now certain sites have deployed persistent cookies, many that are non-zero in size, that persist even after being manually deleted.

AstroMacMan wrote:

In any event, what you still haven't addressed is why, in the past, ALL cookies could be deleted under previous iOS versions, but now certain sites have deployed persistent cookies, many that are non-zero in size, that persist even after being manually deleted.

Yes, he has. It's a bug.

The IOS system was created with a feature where you could manually delete persistent as well as non persistent cookies. I have a similar situation where the online division of a large North American discount store inserts "locked in" cookies that contain data. The worse is that every time I visit the site, additional data is added to this "non erasable" persistent cookie. There are many other similar cases. The only way I could get rid of those persistent cookies was to do a clean install on my iPad. I have been a faithful Apple customer for the past 25 years. I am not sure that the Company Founder would have labeled this bug as insignificant.