ALERT! Safari 4 does all the work for the NSA!

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Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
"Safari 4 beta leaves data, privacy trail in its wake"



Quote:

There are gigabytes of hidden files accumulating on your Mac. In fact, there are individual jpeg and png thumbnails for every Web page you?ve visited since downloading Safari 4 beta, including images of that ?transgender swine in heels? (i.e. the other white meat), Web site you seem so fond of.



It froze my Mac just once too often already too. Safari 4 is out the door!
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    "Safari 4 beta leaves data, privacy trail in its wake"







    It froze my Mac just once too often already too. Safari 4 is out the door!



    ~/library/caches/com.apple.safari has been there since Safari 1. Every browser does the same thing.



    ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Safari/History only contains URL metadata as far back as the last time you cleared your history.



    /private/var/folders/*/*/-Caches-/com.apple.Safari/Webpage Previews/ doesn't exist on any of my Macs (3), nor two from work.



    Could this be because the security researcher and the author are morons and never bothered to check out the Safari Preferences>Security>Database Storage setting? I have always had mine set to none. There's even a "Show Databases" button right below that setting!



    And his beef with the RSS xml files is totally under our own control as well. Just turn RSS off if you don't want the automatic updates (which you can also select as every hour, every day or never)!



    Has anyone ever thought that asking a browser to do automatic updates on websites is data free?



    Fscking unbelievable!
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  • Reply 2 of 39
    taurontauron Posts: 911member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    "Safari 4 beta leaves data, privacy trail in its wake"







    It froze my Mac just once too often already too. Safari 4 is out the door!



    Still better than any other browser.
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  • Reply 3 of 39
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Please notice the word "beta" in the article.



    Safari 4 is no longer in beta.
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  • Reply 4 of 39
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JLL View Post


    Please notice the word "beta" in the article.



    Safari 4 is no longer in beta.



    Immaterial. The beta wouldn't be that different in functionality for the bogus items complained about.
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  • Reply 5 of 39
    @ Hiro:



    I know that. But the article stated that that one particular cache was not cleared despite specific user settings/instructions to do so. It claimed that cache would retain its contents (and growing) while leaving its owner in the belief that they had cleared it. Thus inducing a false sense of security.



    Anyway, the article has now been pulled, it seems, which could indeed indicate that it was left wanting. But doesn't necessarily!



    Call me paranoid, but I'll be keeping a close eye on the actual behavior of that cache from now on, and not automatically rely on Safari's settings.

    It is 2009, and the Pentagon, the NSA, and the DHS have de facto merged just yesterday.

    A marriage of ICT spooks and gung-ho cowboys and Rambos is an accident waiting to happen!
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  • Reply 6 of 39
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    @ Hiro:



    I know that. But the article stated that that one particular cache was not cleared despite specific user settings/instructions to do so. It claimed that cache would retain its contents (and growing) while leaving its owner in the belief that they had cleared it. Thus inducing a false sense of security.



    Anyway, the article has now been pulled, it seems, which could indeed indicate that it was left wanting. But doesn't necessarily!



    Call me paranoid, but I'll be keeping a close eye on the actual behavior of that cache from now on, and not automatically rely on Safari's settings.

    It is 2009, and the Pentagon, the NSA, and the DHS have de facto merged just yesterday.

    A marriage of ICT spooks and gung-ho cowboys and Rambos is an accident waiting to happen!



    Are you spying and in collusion with international spies? If the answer is yes, be nervous as you should be. If the answer is no, NSA doesn't give a rats ass about what's on your computer, by law they can't and have more than enough data flowing outside the confines of the US to keep them busy for a long time. If the computer is in the US, DoD doesn't care about it unless it is actively connected to a DoD network, at which time you would be referred to the FBI, who would be the ones to legally get up in your stuff. And then you should be nervous again.



    This isn't an Orwellian society and while the NSA is quite the sponge, they are looking out, not in.
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  • Reply 7 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hiro View Post


    Are you spying and in collusion with international spies? If the answer is yes, be nervous as you should be. If the answer is no, NSA doesn't give a rats ass about what's on your computer, by law they can't and have more than enough data flowing outside the confines of the US to keep them busy for a long time. If the computer is in the US, DoD doesn't care about it unless it is actively connected to a DoD network, at which time you would be referred to the FBI, who would be the ones to legally get up in your stuff. And then you should be nervous again.



    This isn't an Orwellian society and while the NSA is quite the sponge, they are looking out, not in.



    Oh blissfull innocence!

    I would ROTFLMAO if it weren't so tragic.

    I think you missed a few beats, Hiro...

    Nighty, nighty!
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  • Reply 8 of 39
    karl kuehnkarl kuehn Posts: 756member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    Oh blissfull innocence!

    I would ROTFLMAO if it weren't so tragic.

    I think you missed a few beats, Hiro...

    Nighty, nighty!



    Nope... he is still correct. NSA has been involved in snooping on over-the-wire traffic in the US, but they have never been involved in reading files that are on computers in the US. The only federal department that is likely to be involved in reading files from a hard drive in the US would be the FBI. So the original poster is completely incorrect that the NSA would be involved in this at all.
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  • Reply 9 of 39
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    Oh blissfull innocence!

    I would ROTFLMAO if it weren't so tragic.

    I think you missed a few beats, Hiro...

    Nighty, nighty!



    The traffic the NSA has access to is off international trunks only. Everything may go past the box, but by law they only pull packets they have court authority to pull. You have no idea how much paperwork Posse Comitatus requires when that gets screwed up, and there's one thing bureaucrats hate is extra paperwork.



    Go ahead and wear your tinfoil hat. But the NSA really doesn't give a shit about inside-inside the US. A) they aren't supposed to. B) They don't have a big enough budget to. To a government entity, the budgetary limits are even more effective than legal ones.
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  • Reply 10 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hiro View Post


    The traffic the NSA has access to is off international trunks only. Everything may go past the box, but by law they only pull packets they have court authority to pull. You have no idea how much paperwork Posse Comitatus requires when that gets screwed up, and there's one thing bureaucrats hate is extra paperwork.



    Go ahead and wear your tinfoil hat. But the NSA really doesn't give a shit about inside-inside the US. A) they aren't supposed to. B) They don't have a big enough budget to. To a government entity, the budgetary limits are even more effective than legal ones.



    So you believe those acronyms abide by the law? And you believe what they say? And you believe they won't snoop/eavesdrop if/when/where they're not supposed to? And you believe they don't abuse their powers?

    Haven't you learned anything from history?



    Hey, I've got a beautiful seaside property for you! And because it's you I'll halve the price!
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  • Reply 11 of 39
    trajectorytrajectory Posts: 647member
    If you truly think the US government hasn't or isn't spying on Americans, you are the one wearing the tin-foil hat. See Brazil the movie if you want an idea where things are headed.
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  • Reply 12 of 39
    Or read Nineteen-Eighty-Four.



    And it's not even a secret. It's been put down quite overtly in the law: FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), which religious right wing senator Obama signed and supported!



    And don't let the name fool you: every contact of every American citizen with foreigners – in any way! (like THIS one!) – invokes the act. Every time an American citizen crosses a border invokes the act. Every American citizen living abroad invokes the act.

    I.o.w.: if you e.g. buy a Japanese, German, French, or Italian car then your privacy is not protected anymore, and the acronyms can legally snoop on you, your computer, your snail mail, your kids, your relatives, your neighbors, and they can harass you (and them...) and even arrest you without warrant, indefinitely, and without the right to a proper legal defense. Because, protected by the fig leaf of "US security interests", you'll simply be categorized as an 'enemy combatant'. Expect US citizens to be waterboarded, etc. etc.



    Better study your draconian laws, Hiro... They make it all nice and 'legal'.
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  • Reply 13 of 39
    karl kuehnkarl kuehn Posts: 756member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Trajectory View Post


    If you truly think the US government hasn't or isn't spying on Americans, you are the one wearing the tin-foil hat. See Brazil the movie if you want an idea where things are headed.



    There is a great quote from that movie: "Anybody for a little necrophilia?". Really wonderful quote to take out of context.
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  • Reply 14 of 39
    Here's a 'nice' example – and 'breaking news'! – of how the US administration abides by the law: NOT!



    NY Times today: Cheney Is Linked to Concealment of C.I.A. Project.



    Administrations are fundamentally untrustworthy. The US' previous one even plain trecherous (remember the 'WMDs'?). And the jury is still out on Obama, but I'm not holding my breath, seeing as he was one of those who signed and promoted FISA into 'law'.
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  • Reply 15 of 39
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    ...



    And it's not even a secret. It's been put down quite overtly in the law: FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), which religious right wing senator Obama signed and supported!



    ....



    It is well-known that the NSA listens to every single telephone call made in the USA and has done so since its inception. Not to put too fine a point on it, this was long before either Barack Obama or George W. Bush held any elective office. If you don't want Big Brother to intercept your communications, then sit with the people that you want to communicate with around a bucket of water and silently exchange notes written on water soluble paper. After everyone has read each note, drop it into the water. If you want verbal communication, then do so in an open meadow or farm field. Otherwise, assume that anything that you either say or write is available to whoever wants it.



    BTW, the NSA was probably the largest customer for NeXT computers.
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  • Reply 16 of 39
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member












    Somebody please tell me if he USA has enough electricity to do these things!











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  • Reply 17 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. Me View Post


    If you want verbal communication, then do so in an open meadow or farm field.



    Uh-uh!

    I can record your conversation from 500 yards with a D-I-Y parabolic microphone.

    Lipreaders can do it through binoculars...



    If you want verbal communication: whispering in the ear under the shower is probably a better m.o.
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  • Reply 18 of 39
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rokcet Scientist View Post


    Uh-uh!

    I can record your conversation from 500 yards with a D-I-Y parabolic microphone.

    Lipreaders can do it through binoculars...



    If you want verbal communication: whispering in the ear under the shower is probably a better m.o.



    You do point out an interesting conundrum. It is extremely difficult escape surveillance. The Government can find pretty much whomever and whatever it wants to find. Private industry is not far behind, if at all.
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  • Reply 19 of 39
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hiro View Post


    Are you spying and in collusion with international spies? If the answer is yes, be nervous as you should be. If the answer is no, NSA doesn't give a rats ass about what's on your computer, by law they can't and have more than enough data flowing outside the confines of the US to keep them busy for a long time. If the computer is in the US, DoD doesn't care about it unless it is actively connected to a DoD network, at which time you would be referred to the FBI, who would be the ones to legally get up in your stuff. And then you should be nervous again.



    This isn't an Orwellian society and while the NSA is quite the sponge, they are looking out, not in.



    Your post embodies both fragility and innocence. Keep wearing those rose-tinted glasses, Hiro. You look good in them.
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  • Reply 20 of 39
    hirohiro Posts: 2,663member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kim kap sol View Post


    Your post embodies both fragility and innocence. Keep wearing those rose-tinted glasses, Hiro. You look good in them.



    I look good in everything!



    Nice to see you still post drivel! Gotta love consistency!
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