Is Safari an insecure browser?

[krazirob]

I find that a very empty commitment. Firefox sends diagnostic reports by default (for every user) and it defaults to Google Search. It also accepts all cookies by default. At least Safari blocks third-party cookies by default. I also find Firefox’s settings menus (and Chrome’s!) pretty terrible and it is easier to configure Safari from scratch.

I don’t think there are particular risks with Safari, but the browser is not the privacy enthusiast’s first choice. You cannot set the user agent to something else permanently and I think Apple could do more about cookies and local storage. I am currently using the app Cookie to periodically delete cookies and local storage from my non-favourite websites. I think it is absolutely shameful that browsers keep all cookies until they are either cleaned manually or expire (many websites set ridiculous expiration times, such as 10 years). There should be a middle-ground, such as a reasonable, maximum expiration time and an option to keep cookies from websites you have in your favourites or visit frequently.

How do you like the cookie app? I am currently having a problem where when I delete all my cookies and website data in safari then moments later it all comes right back. I can't seem to permanently delete all my cookies. This only happens on my Mac Pro. On my MacBook Pro when I delete the cookies they stay gone.

 

[KALLT]

How do you like the cookie app? I am currently having a problem where when I delete all my cookies and website data in safari then moments later it all comes right back. I can't seem to permanently delete all my cookies. This only happens on my Mac Pro. On my MacBook Pro when I delete the cookies they stay gone.

It works all right. Every major update of OS X seems to break something though, but the support so far has been great.

 

[997440]

Do your fears about a for-profit company providing a browser extend to Apple's Safari?

I do prefer the open-source aspect of Fx. While I don't think Apple would deliberately arrange Safari in such a way as to cause harm to its user base, it's always possible. But their current reputation would be at stake, so the chance of a deliberate act is negligible. A niggling concern is that they'd inadvertently screw something up, there'd be a lag before discovering it, and then there'd be a further lag before admitting it. Apple does have some history of that delay type behavior with some hardware issues, not with Safari as far as I know.

It's about minimizing risk where conveniently possible, not about being fearful of this particular for-profit. After all, I trust them with my data that resides on their hardware using their OSes (with proper backups, of course ).

 

[phrehdd]

Safari on my computer seems quite confident and feels secure in itself. I do believe there are typical security vulnerabilities in spite of Safari's own self confidence.

 

[Zazoh]

No problems with it and because I'm so embedded in their ecosystem, I rely on having bookmarks and passwords synched on all my apple devices, I don't use anything else.