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Is Mozilla in breach of any privacy laws by failing to clear browsing history even though it claims to have cleared it?

  • 6 ردود
  • 1 has this problem
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  • آخر ردّ كتبه user633449

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I have cleared history several times in Firefox, but it obviously hasn't cleared history because I can bring up previously visited pages in the search bar. Is anybody aware of laws that Mozilla may be in breach of in the case that it's misleading consumers. It certainly claims to clear ALL data, including search and browsing history. I'm sure it's claims are false and misleading.

I have cleared history several times in Firefox, but it obviously hasn't cleared history because I can bring up previously visited pages in the search bar. Is anybody aware of laws that Mozilla may be in breach of in the case that it's misleading consumers. It certainly claims to clear ALL data, including search and browsing history. I'm sure it's claims are false and misleading.

الحل المُختار

If you are in permanent private browsing mode, than Firefox will only clear history when you shut down Firefox. Is this history that still appears after Firefox has been closed and re-opened?

Regardless, this is not an issue of the GDPR because History is stored locally on your computer, not in the cloud, and Mozilla has no access to it.

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No, you are the user of it. Mozilla does not surf on your browser, just you. Are you more interested in .... or fixing the issue as that is what the Volunteer Support Forum is for.

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So companies can never be in breach of contract or any law if they keep track of your data and recast it, even if they say they don't?

So thinking about this extract from an article about the GPDR ..

"The rule, called General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR, focuses on ensuring that users know, understand, and consent to the data collected about them. Under GDPR, pages of fine print won’t suffice. Neither will forcing users to click yes in order to sign up."

Am I missing something, because I don't understand why Firefox is keeping track of websites even though I've set it to permanent private mode and cleared history. I have children in my house and I wouldn't want them to stumble across something that wasn't appropriate for them.

Is it something to do with bookmarks?

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الحل المُختار

If you are in permanent private browsing mode, than Firefox will only clear history when you shut down Firefox. Is this history that still appears after Firefox has been closed and re-opened?

Regardless, this is not an issue of the GDPR because History is stored locally on your computer, not in the cloud, and Mozilla has no access to it.

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Similar issue - When I type in the search bar, previously visited websites still show up.

  • I'm running FF in "normal" mode, but have set to clear all cache, history, etc. when exiting.
  • I manually clear everything via FF Options
  • Under Options, Search I have "provide search suggestions" enabled, but it says below that "Search suggestions will not be shown in location bar results because you have configured Firefox to never remember history."
  • I even tried deselecting "Provide search suggestions" and still no change.

...But it still shows search suggestions from previous site visits.

Modified by teligence

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Hi teligence, do you mean in the address bar (where a page's URL appears after loading) or in the search bar (short bar that never shows website addresses)? I will assume you mean the address bar.

This bar has two different places you could see a site from your history:

  • in the bar itself, as you type, just the top level server name -- this is the autofill feature
  • in the autcomplete drop down, specific URL

When you clear history, suggestions for that site should no longer show in the autocomplete drop-down unless the page is bookmarked. However, Firefox might not always clear out the list of top level server names (it was a problem in the past; I haven't checked in newer versions).

If you want to be 100% certain that has been destroyed, you can do this:

Make a Bookmark Backup

Firefox has two formats and I recommend creating both:

Remove the Places database

This is the file that stores history and bookmarks. Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, on the Profile Folder row, click the "Open Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > Exit
  • (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then rename places.sqlite to something like placesOLD.sqlite. If you see files named places.sqlite-shm and/or places.sqlite-wal, you can delete those.

When you start Firefox back up again, it should attempt to rebuild your bookmarks from the latest automatic backup. If that doesn't work, you can restore/import from one of the backups you made in the first step (only one needs to work):

Any improvement?

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teligence, if the above doesn't help, please start a new thread. I'm going to lock this one