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Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
#56643 10/27/20 03:55 PM
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This screenshot shows the pop-up I see when I click on Safari's Privacy icon and the Privacy Report it generates when I click on its little "i" link when I'm visiting FTM.

As you can see, the one tells me that "This webpage did not contact any trackers," while the other tells me that yahoo.com was tracking me.

The Privacy pane has NEVER told me anything other than "This webpage did not contact any trackers."

I'm seeing the same thing in both panes as I type this.

Anybody got an idea of what it's all about?


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
artie505 #56649 10/27/20 05:10 PM
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I too get the "no contact trackers" that you show, but when I generate the Privacy Report FineTunedMac does not show up in my list of websites, confirming no trackers. Strange. crazy


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
Ira L #56650 10/27/20 07:14 PM
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I just shut down/started up, which I hadn't thought to do, but with no change.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
artie505 #56686 10/29/20 06:41 PM
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Here is my take. When you click on the Privacy Report For This Site you are seeing the privacy report for that particular moment in time. When you click on the info icon you will see
  1. It is the report for the last 30 days
  2. Who tracked that web site in the last 30 days
  3. The really scary part, the percentage of websites visited in the last 30 days that attempted to track you

If you click on Show More you will find an explanation of why a tracker may appear to be associated with a particular site such as FineTunedMac but is unknown to the site developer or host.

The wording in the Privacy Report For This Site could be clearer.

Last edited by joemikeb; 10/29/20 06:42 PM.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
joemikeb #56691 10/29/20 11:31 PM
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Originally Posted by joemikeb
Here is my take. When you click on the Privacy Report For This Site you are seeing the privacy report for that particular moment in time. When you click on the info icon you will see
  1. It is the report for the last 30 days
  2. Who tracked that web site in the last 30 days
  3. The really scary part, the percentage of websites visited in the last 30 days that attempted to track you

If you click on Show More you will find an explanation of why a tracker may appear to be associated with a particular site such as FineTunedMac but is unknown to the site developer or host.

The wording in the Privacy Report For This Site could be clearer.
1. It's the report for the last 30 days ONLY if you haven't quit Safari for 30 days; it resets each time you quit Safari.
3. The only site I"ve ever noticed NOT tracking me is FTM.
The wording in the "Privacy Report For This Site" could most assuredly be clearer than the mud it resembles at the moment, and I"m not even sure ithat it explains my FTM tracker, because...

I've noticed that the owner of the yahoo.com tracker is Verizon Media, and Verizon just happens to be my ISP, although it doesn't track me on all sites, nor can I figure out any rhyme or reason to the ones it does track me on.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
artie505 #56697 10/30/20 02:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Artie505
1. It's the report for the last 30 days ONLY if you haven't quit Safari for 30 days; it resets each time you quit Safari.
3. The only site I"ve ever noticed NOT tracking me is FTM.
  1. I just verified, THE THIRTY DAYS DOES NOT RESET every time you quit Safari, reboot the computer, or install an update. or at least it doesn't in Big Sur. I don't know where the data is stored, but it occurs to me you reset might be the result of something in Cookie some other third party app.
  2. As you can see in my previous screenshot, PayPal is flagged as having attempted to track FineTunedMac on my system. That is completely inexplicable, but there is nothing to prevent a tracking cookie from lying about its origin.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
artie505 #56701 10/30/20 06:37 PM
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Originally Posted by artie505
I've noticed that the owner of the yahoo.com tracker is Verizon Media, and Verizon just happens to be my ISP, although it doesn't track me on all sites, nor can I figure out any rhyme or reason to the ones it does track me on.

Verizon is not my ISP and I see it has tracked me. When I got more info from the Tracker tab it seem as if Verizon is responsible for the ads thrown up (my reaction? grin ) on many web site pages, like this one that showed up out of the blue on CNET news site.


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
Ira L #56706 10/30/20 07:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Ira L
Verizon is not my ISP and I see it has tracked me. When I got more info from the Tracker tab it seem as if Verizon is responsible for the ads thrown up (my reaction? grin ) on many web site pages, like this one that showed up out of the blue on CNET news site.
All you have to do is touch one site that installs cross site cookies and any other site you have open, or open subsequently, can be tracked by the other site. 😳 There is a LOT of money to be made by collecting and selling tracking data. A recent NPR article indicated Google pays Apple $12,000,000,000 (yes that is twelve Billion) a year to the default search engine in Safari as shipped. Is there any wonder Apple is rumored to be developing their own search engine?


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
joemikeb #56711 10/31/20 08:01 AM
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Originally Posted by joemikeb
Originally Posted by Artie505
1. It's the report for the last 30 days ONLY if you haven't quit Safari for 30 days; it resets each time you quit Safari.
I just verified, THE THIRTY DAYS DOES NOT RESET every time you quit Safari, reboot the computer, or install an update. or at least it doesn't in Big Sur. I don't know where the data is stored, but it occurs to me you reset might be the result of something in Cookie some other third party app.
The Privacy Report did NOT reset in safe mode.

I asked Cookie's dev if he knows what's up. Maybe has something to do with clearing history?

Update: Further testing shows that clearing history, whether manually or by means of Cookie, resets the Privacy Report.

Personally, I'd rather clear history regularly than perpetuate "pat myself on the back" eye candy.

More: As a matter of fact, I"ve made my Privacy icon go "poof." It doesn't serve any particular useful purpose, and it's a constant distraction.

Last edited by artie505; 10/31/20 11:00 AM. Reason: More

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Safari Privacy Report anomaly?
artie505 #56726 10/31/20 11:13 PM
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Originally Posted by artie505
Update: Further testing shows that clearing history, whether manually or by means of Cookie, resets the Privacy Report.
That makes sense.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein

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