At work I login to SAS using Firefox incognito mode. Closing the browser window should be enough to log me out, and until now it has been. However, when I got to work today and navigated to SAS in an incog window, I was already logged in. I do not have any other incog windows or tabs open that might cause the session to persist. When I try to log in using a standard tab, I am not logged in, and there is no history of ever visiting this site.
Visited pages: Pages will not be added to the list of sites in the History menu, the Library window’s history list, nor in the address bar drop-down list.
Form and Search Bar entries: Nothing you enter into text boxes on web pages nor the Search bar will be saved for Form autocomplete.
Download List entries: Files you download will not be listed in the Downloads Library after you turn off Private Browsing.
Cookies:Cookies store information about websites you visit, such as site preferences, and login status. Cookies can also be used by third parties to track you across websites. See the How do I turn on the Do Not Track feature? article to learn more about tracking. Cookies set in private windows are held temporarily in memory, separate from regular window cookies, and discarded at the end of your private session (after the last private window is closed).
Cached Web Content and Offline Web Content and User Data: Temporary Internet files (cached files) and files that websites save for offline use will not be saved.
Note:
New passwords and bookmarks you create while using Private Browsing will be saved.
Any files you download to your computer while using Private Browsing will be saved.
Firefox Private Browsing mode doesn’t save new cookies, but it may use cookies and previously saved passwords, etc.
Private Browsing is a useful feature of Firefox, but only if you understand the protection it offers. It helps you obscure your online activity from other people who use Firefox on your computer, but does not make you invisible online.
Myth 1: Private Browsing makes you anonymous on the Internet
Reality: Private Browsing does not mask your identity or activity online. Websites and internet service providers can still gather information about your visit, even if you are not signed in. If you use your device at work, your company may be able to monitor the websites you visit. If you surf the Web at home, your cable company (or their partners) may have access to your browsing information. Only a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can mask your location and encrypt your online activity, keeping your identity and data safe from prying eyes. If you need to stay anonymous online, try Mozilla VPN.
Myth 2: Private Browsing removes all traces of your browsing activity from your computer
Reality: Private Browsing works by letting you browse without saving passwords, cookies and browsing history in a Private Window. If you download a file from a website, it will remain on your computer, but it will not appear in the download manager in Firefox. If you bookmark a website while in a Private Window, it will remain in your bookmark list.
Myth 3: Private Browsing doesn’t display any browsing history
Reality: Private Browsing will, by default, display visited sites and bookmarks as you type in the address bar. Firefox saves these pages during normal browsing. If you don’t want to see these suggestions, you can deselect them in your Firefox Settings Privacy & Security panel under Address Bar.
Myth 4: Private Browsing will protect you from keystroke loggers and spyware
Reality: Private Browsing does not protect you from malware installed on your computer. If you suspect you have malware, take steps to remove it to prevent it from happening again.
Try setting your history setting to Never remember history and/or Always use private browsing mode in about:preferences>>privacy. Then close Firefox, and reboot your device.
I have never visited SAS except through private browsing. There should be no cookies for this site, and I already mentioned I have not saved the password or login for SAS. The login and password for SAS are unique from any other login and therefore Firefox cannot be using the login for a different site which happens to be the same. Additionally, if the information was available to automatically log me in in private browsing, it would also log me in when using the standard browsing. This is not the case. I am only logged in when I open a private browsing window.
As I stated previously, I have used private browsing every time I have logged into SAS and logged out simply by closing the window. I have never been kept logged in to either this or any other website when logged in from private browsing before. I am less concerned about how to fix it as I am about why this is happening. I can’t imagine how this would be a SAS issue, but since it only happens with this site I have to at least entertain the idea until I figure out what else may have changed to cause this.
Firefox/Chrome are not great about closing out “sessions” from normal or private/ incognito windows/tabs. The site works off of sessions and that isn’t a cookie so it doesn’t go away on close.
I’ll review the settings but best to “log out” when closing out.
Of course there are cookies for this site. The question is, are they saved or cleared at the end of the session. Firefox does save login credentials for websites (depending on your settings even across devices) in Private Browsing, see the long answer portion above,
There should be no saved cookies for this site, as per my Firefox settings. This should include login information.
If I have multiple tabs open in a private browsing window and I close one tab, the session will stay active and I won’t be logged out. If I close the entire window (assuming there are no other private browsing windows open) the session should end and I should be logged out. This has always been my experience with private browsing, including on this work computer where I use private browsing on a daily basis. A login persisting through multiple sessions, (and only staying logged in in private browsing and not in the standard browsing window!) even after the computer was restarted over the weekend in a completely new experience for me.
As I said, I don’t see how it could have anything to do with SAS, but I have also checked my browser settings and I don’t understand how this is happening due to something in Firefox either.
Important: Private Browsing does not make you anonymous on the Internet. Your Internet service provider, employer, or the sites themselves can still gather information about pages you visit.
Firefox is set to remember history by default, but you can change this setting in your Firefox Privacy Settings :
Click the menu button and select Settings.
Select the Privacy & Security panel and go to the History section.
Choose Use custom settings for history from the drop-down menu and check the Always use private browsing mode setting.
Alternatively, you can select Never remember history from the drop-down menu, which is equivalent to always being in Private Browsing mode.
Restart Firefox.
Important: When Firefox is set to Always use private browsing mode or to Never remember history, you won’t see a purple mask at the top of each window, even though you are in Private Browsing mode. To restore normal browsing, go to your Privacy & Security Settings and uncheck Always use private browsing mode from your Use custom settings for history settings (or select Remember history from the drop-down menu) and restart Firefox.
Firefox’s password management feature securely stores your usernames and passwords.
I don’t know anything about how this works server side. Even knowing that there are server side sessions that could persist beyond my closing and restarting private browsing, it still doesn’t make sense that it would result in my being auto logged in only through private browsing, and that it will persist from Thursday to the following Monday after the computer was restarted.
In any case, I updated Firefox and the issue no longer occurs. I will let you know if it happens again.
I purchased a new HP Chromebook a few months ago, and I’m constantly having to restart my system to do Chrome updates; if I don’t, then I can’t log in to specific sites like Chase or UPS; it is extremely annoying, I always thought HP products were great, but I also purchased a new HP printer, which has given me nothing but issues.
Not sure if this is an HP system problem or a general update issue, but I never had this happen with my last Chromebook, which was not an HP.
FF is really messed up lately. Every update fixes X things but breaks 3X more. Anyone know what’s going on? Did they also lay off experienced folks, to use unpaid college interns?
I’ve been using FF since mid 2005, and there was definitely a few years in there where Mozilla neglected FF in favor of other projects. In the last 5 years or so they have been serious about getting back into the game, but I don’t know what’s been going on the last couple months.
Winifred Mitchell Baker returned as CEO of Mozilla in 2020. Since then she has alienated users (market share is down over 85%), laid off 250 employees, and increased her salary to more than $3M. Mozilla which since the ousting of Brandon Eich in 2014 has been openly supportive of extreme left leaning politics, has under Baker’s leadership become actively and militantly hostile to right leaning politicians and groups, including significant monetary support. After she and Mozilla’s attempts to deplatform Donald ■■■■■(Really?? I urge caution in exercising your power to censor politics, it might be considered political) and other Republicans, there is currently a boycott against Mozilla and Mozilla donors/supporters.
Mozilla does have all that going on…
Which, I imagine might be a bit of a distraction and probably interferes with delivering a superior product.
Mozilla may also have some SBF/FTX problems. The foundation had been a major supporter of crypto but recently took a hard 180° turn, going so far as to no longer accept contributions in BTC.
I’ll double check, but they were all part of the generic list downloaded. I know Washington and Licnion are not on it, so I stand corrected, not ALL, but current era were on there
EDIT
Yeah that one might have to come out! I have been pruning the list as needed
and select Settings.
