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weird "evercookie" web page (careful)
#13371 12/20/10 01:16 AM
Joined: Sep 2009
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Joined: Sep 2009
hi... any knowledgable web person(s) care to look at this for me(us)?

There's a link to a Polish web site in post #1 of this Ars Technica thread, discussing <HTML5 cookies>.

I'd recommend (should you decide to follow the .pl link in that thread) to use a "test" machine. On my fairly recent Core i7 Mac Book Pro (running the latest everything), Safari acts very weird when I land on that page. As mentioned in the thread, it does install some 'local storage' database... and as you can see, I experienced my first KP on this Mac while attempting to copy that page (and the source).

The first thing I noticed while parked on that page was how slow Safari felt. Also, if I selected some text, the selection would be released after 2 or 3 seconds.

I'd just like to know more about what's going on there. As you can also see, the author was written up in the Wall Street Journal... so I'm not suggesting any Russian mafia type hanky panky. But what the heck is going on???

WAIT THE WSJ LINK IS WRONG. I'LL FIX IT SOON

Okay, the correct article is "New Web Code Draws Concerns Over Privacy Risks" from the New York Times, and I think the person with that website is Samy Kamkar (mentioned therein).

Any possible demystification would be appreciated.

Last edited by Hal Itosis; 12/20/10 01:32 AM.
Re: weird "evercookie" web page (careful)
Hal Itosis #13373 12/20/10 04:14 AM
Joined: Sep 2009
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Joined: Sep 2009
Hmm, a search at macosxhints turned up this: evercookie security problem

Still, not much exploration ensued (and certainly nothing that might explain my KP).

[edit] the inevitable slashdot discussion (i'll slowly chew on that for now)

[more related linkage] Ad firm sued for allegedly re-creating deleted cookies



Last edited by Hal Itosis; 12/20/10 04:21 AM.
Re: weird "evercookie" web page (careful)
Hal Itosis #13376 12/21/10 06:40 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
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Joined: Aug 2009
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Hmmm... I wonder if your third link explains the mysterious reappearance of deleted cookies that I've experienced over the years; until I read it I thought they were a figment of my imagination.


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