Ask your typical Mac user to name the piece of software they use the most often, and chances are theyβre going to say their web browser.
But the more time you spend surfing the web, the more information your web browser gathers about you and your browsing habits. Most of this information is beneficial, helping your web browser provide a better user experience, for example by making it easier to access your favourite websites or allowing Safari to auto-complete forms for you. However, Safari and Apple may not be the only ones who have access to this information.
Whether itβs advertisers placing cookies on your computer, third parties tracking your online movements, or even your friends and familyΒ snooping through your web history, your typical web browser has the potential to provide a lot of people with a lot of information about you.
If you donβt like the idea of other scrutinisingΒ your online movements, then the good news is that Safari has lots of built-in security features that you can use to limit the information other people have access to, including third-parties who may be recording your browsing sessions without your consent.
In this article, weβre going to be lookingΒ at a number of Safari features that can help you ensure that your browsing sessions remain private, including a feature that sends a Do Not Track request to every single website you visit.
Do Not Track
Out of everyone who may be trying to access your browsing history and data, the one that tends to worry people the most, is third-parties. Third-party tracking allows organisations to record your online movements and compile information about you, even if youβve never even visited that organisationβs website before. Third-parties typically gather this information via adverts that are hosted on the websites you do visit, and then use this data to display adverts that are specifically targeted at you. If youβve ever searched for a product online, only to find adverts for that product suddenly popping up on completely unrelated websites, then youβve seen third-party tracking in action.
To help you reduce third party tracking, many modern web browsers include a Do Not Track feature β and Safari is no exception. When this feature is enabled, your browser lets websites know that you donβt want to be tracked, by adding an HTTP header to all your web traffic.
To enable Do Not Track in Safari:
- Launch Safari.
- Select βSafariβ from the toolbar, followed by βPreferencesβ¦.β
- In the subsequent window, select the βPrivacyβ button.
- Select the βAsk websites not to track meβ checkbox.
Safari isnβt the only browser that includes a Do Not Track option, so even if you regularly use another browser (for example, maybe your workplace requires you to use a non-Safari browser), then you can still take advantage of this feature:
- Chrome. Select βChrome > Preferencesβ¦β from the Chrome toolbar. Make sure βSettingsβ is selected in the left-hand menu, and then click βShow Advanced Settings.β Find the βPrivacyβ section and select the βSend a Do Not Track requestβ¦β checkbox.
- Firefox. Select βFirefox > Preferencesβ¦.β from the Firefox toolbar. Select the βPrivacyβ icon, and then select βTell sites that I do not want to be tracked.β
- Opera. Select βOpera > Preferencesβ from the toolbar. Select βPrivacy & Securityβ from the left-hand menu, then select the βSend a Do Not Track requestβ¦β checkbox.
- Internet Explorer. Launch Internet Explorer and select the Gear icon located in the upper-right corner of the browser window. Select βSafetyβ from the dropdown menu, followed by βTurn on Do Not Track requests.β
The downside is that a Do Not Track request is exactly that: a request. Websites arenβt legally required to honour this request, so while this feature provides an additional layer of security, you shouldnβt rely on Do Not Track alone to keep your browsing habits private.
Review your Cookie Settings
A cookie is a small data file thatβs placed on your computer, and contains information that a specific website wants to store, such as your IP address, operating system, and the date you lasted visited the website, as well as any personal information youβve provided such as your name and email address. When you revisit a website, it uses this information to tailor the experience to better suit you. Some cookies are helpful, for example a cookie might contain preferences you created the last time you visited this website, but other cookies can be used to display targeted adverts or to track your web activity.
By default, Safari only accepts cookies from websites you visit, and will attempt to block any third-party cookies. However, you can change these default settings to block more cookies, or even to prevent any cookies from being placed on your Mac.
To review how Safari handles cookies, open Safariβs βPreferencesβ¦β menu and then select the βPrivacyβ tab. In the βCookies and website dataβ section, youβll find the following options:
- Always block. Safari doesnβt let any websites, third parties, or advertisers store cookies on your Mac. Note that blocking all cookies may change the behaviour of some websites that rely on cookies in order to deliver their core functionality, so if you experience any strange behaviour after selecting this option, then you may need to return to this menu and dial back your security settings.
- Allow from current website only. Safari only accepts cookies from websites youβve visited. Safari doesnβt allow any third parties to store or access cookies on your machine.
- Allow from websites I visit. Safari uses your existing cookies to determine whether youβve visited a website before, and prevents all websites you havenβt previously visited from storing and accessing your cookies.
- Always allow. Safari lets all websites, third parties, and advertisers store cookies on your Mac. Youβll typically want to avoid this option, unless you have a specific reason for enabling it.
Review your Geolocation Settings
When you visit a geolocation-enabled website, Safari may ask whether you want to share your location with this website. Many websites have legitimate reasons for requesting access to your location, for example a website may be able to display regional news stories or a weather report based on your current location.
You can review Safariβs geolocation settings, by opening Safariβs βPreferencesβ¦β menu and selecting the βPrivacyβ tab. At this point, you can choose between the following location settings:
- Prompt for each website once each day.
- Prompt for each website one time only.
- Deny without prompting. As long as this option is enabled, you wonβt see any messages asking you to grant a website access to your location. If you change your mind and want to start allowing websites to access this information again, then youβll need to return to this menu and select one of the βPrompt for each websiteβ¦β options instead.
Keeping your Browsing History Private
By default, whenever you browse the web, information about your browsing session is stored on your local computer. This can be a problem if you share your Mac with other people, as even if you trust them not to go poking around in your web history, they may still stumble across some trace of your previous browsing sessions by accident. For example, when theyβre typing into the address bar, Safari may display some suggested search terms based on your previous browsing history.
Even if youβre the only person who uses your Mac, you may still want to employ some of the following techniques, as the less information stored in your web browser, the less data organisations and third parties could potentially gain access to.
In this section, Iβm going to share a few ways that you can reduce the personal data and Internet history stored in your browser, including how to ensure this information is never even recorded in the first place.
1. Get into the habit of cleaning your history and cache
Clearing your cache and deleting your web history is one of the easiest and most effective ways of keeping your browsing sessions private, and is particularly important if you share your Mac with other people. Just be aware that clearing this data will log you out of any websites youβre currently logged into.
To clear Safariβs cache:
- Open Safariβs βPreferences.β
- Select the βPrivacyβ tab.
- Click the βManage Website Dataβ button.
- In the subsequent window, click βRemove all.β
To clear you browser history, select βHistory > Clear Historyβ from the Safari toolbar. You can then decide whether you want to delete your entire history, or just the websites youβve looked at within a particular timeframe, such as within the last day or hour.
2. Consider disabling Autofill
Safariβs Autofill feature remembers the text you enter into online forms, so Safari can complete these fields for you automatically the next time you visit this website. This can be a time-saver when it comes to logging into your favourite websites or making online purchases, but if you share your Mac with other people they you might not be thrilled about your credit card details popping up every timeΒ they try to make a purchase on your Mac!
To change the information that Autofill records, or even disable Autofill completely, open Safariβs βPreferencesβ¦β menu and then select the βAutofillβ tab
At this point, youβll see the different categories of Autofill information:
- Using info from my contacts.
- User names and passwords.
- Credit cards.
- Other forms.
To stop Autofill from recording and using information that falls into a certain category, simply deselect that categoryβs accompanying checkbox. For example, if you donβt want Autofill to enter your payment details whenever someone tries to make a purchase on your Mac, then deselect the βCredit cardsβ checkbox.
3. Exclude browsing history from Spotlight Searches
You may have noticed that web pages youβve previously visited are sometimes included in your Spotlight Search results.
If youβd prefer your browser history to not pop up in your Spotlight Searches, then complete the following steps:
- Click the βAppleβ logo in the menu bar, followed by βSystem Preferencesβ¦β
- Select βSpotlightβ and make sure the βSearch resultsβ tab is selected.
- De-select βBooks & History.β
4. Remove βFrequently Visited Sitesβ
By default, Safari displays your most frequently visited sites whenever you open a new window or tab. To remove this information, select βBookmarksβ from the Safari toolbar, and then deselect βShow Frequently Visited in Favorites.β
5. Use Private Browsing
If you really want to make sure that your browsing history remains private, then you should use Safariβs Private Browsing mode. When you open a window or tab in Private Browsing mode, Safari will automatically discard all the data associated with that session (including cookies, history, cache, Autofill information, and website data) as soon as you close that tab or window. Using Private Browsing also prevents your browsing activity from being stored in iCloud, so the webpages youβve visited wonβt appear on any devices where youβre logged in with the same iCloud ID.
To start a Private Browsing session, select βFile > New Private Windowβ from the Safari toolbar.
If you want Safari to launch in Private Browsing mode automatically, then:
- Open Safariβs βPreferencesβ¦β
- Select the βGeneralβ tab.
- In the βSafari opens withβ dropdown, select βA new private window.β
6. Consider using a browser extension
Although Safari has a number of built-in settings that can make it more difficult for other people and organisations to access your browsing history and personal information, you may want to add another layer of security by installing a browser extension.
Disconnect is a privacy-minded Safari extension that displays the total number of tracking requests Safari receives every time you visit a website. You can then use Disconnect to see exactly where these requests are originating from, and can even block them, if desired.
You can download the Basic version of the Disconnect Private Browsing extension for free. Once the extension is installed, youβll notice a new button has been added to your Safari toolbar. Try visiting a few different websites, and this button will update to display the total number of requests itβs receiving. To find out more about these requests, click the button to open a dropdown containing the different request categories: Advertising, Analytics, Social and Content. Click any of these categories, to see the individual tracking requests and where they originate from.
To deny a tracking request, simply deselect its accompanying checkbox.
7. Consider switching search engines
If youβve ever started typing into your favourite search engine only for it to display a dropdown of suggestions based on your previous searches, then youβll already be aware that the majority of search engines record all of your search queries.
Although clearing your cache and your web history will remove all this information, you can prevent this data from being recorded in the first place, by switching to a non-tracking search engine such as DuckDuckGo.
If youβre in the habit of entering your search queries into Safariβs address bar, rather than visiting the search engine itself, then youβll need to tell Safari to use DuckDuckGo as your default search engine:
- Open Safariβs βPreferencesβ¦β window.
- Select the βSearchβ tab.
- Open the βSearch engineβ dropdown, and then select βDuckDuckGo.β
From this point onwards, any search queries you type into the Safari address bar will be completed via DuckDuckGo, and therefore wonβt be recorded.
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