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submitted 1 month ago by birdcat@lemmy.ml to c/firefox@lemmy.ml

I've enabled "Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed" but while all cookies gets deleted, some random site data does not. Are my settings wrong, is this a bug, and what even is that data?

Additional Info: I use RFP, want to keep browsing history and site settings. Thank you very much.

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[-] MangoPenguin 9 points 1 month ago

What is the data it's keeping? 25-100 bytes doesn't seem like there's anything actually there.

[-] tacticalsugar 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

8 bytes is enough to store 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 (18 quintillion) different values, more than enough space for a fingerprint ID. The size of the data shouldn't factor into the potential threat.

[-] MangoPenguin 4 points 1 month ago

Oh for sure, I just wonder if the size being the same on 2 of them is a result of Firefox storing some default data there on cleanup by accident.

[-] tacticalsugar 2 points 1 month ago

Oh, I get it now! In my sleep deprived state I missed that two of them had the same size. That seems like a reasonable guess, I'm just paranoid about cookies :P

[-] 30p87@feddit.org 3 points 1 month ago

Except the actual content is very likely boilerplate stuff.

[-] tacticalsugar 7 points 1 month ago

My point still stands. The size of data says nothing about its contents. If OP is concerned about this from a security or privacy perspective, you shouldn't be writing them off because it's only 100 bytes.

[-] HarriPotero@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Sounds like it's localStorage. But I'd expect that to be covered by "site data" in that option.

It's a bit like cookies, but just for one site. Some think they can avoid cookie consent banners with localStorage.

Firefox has a page on the topic.

this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2024
25 points (100.0% liked)

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