"Clear Private Data" does not clear private data from the Awesome Bar's Rich Results list

[Mark]

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Navigate to a few websites
2. Tools -> Clear Private Data
3. Begin to type into the address bar the name of a site you visited before

Expected results:
The site is not recognized because private data was cleared.

Actual results:
Your browsing habits are clearly visible in the dropdown from the address bar.

[Michael Losonsky (michl)]

Was just going to report the same bug.
Hardy Beta
Kernel: 2.6.24-12-generic
Firefox version: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b4) Gecko/2008031317 Firefox/3.0b4

[Michael Losonsky (michl)]

I noticed that this bug is not included in today's Hug Day list of
bugs, which is devoted to firefox. I think that for an LTS release
this must be fixed because for many users this is a privacy
or security issue. They expect their browsing history to be
erased, but in fact it is not erased.

[TELUGU_BIDDA (sastrik2)]

This continues to be a bug in Mozilla Firefox 3 Beta 5

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b5) Gecko/2008041514 Firefox/3.0b5

[Michael Losonsky (michl)]

From what I can tell it is not a real bug but a regression that's
part of a new feature RichResults. The browsing history does
not erase RichResults anymore. If you don't want RichResults
keep track of where you went, in Firefox you need to enter
about:config
and then scroll down to:
browser.urlbar.maxRichResults
and change the default. The default setting is 12 and if you
want nothing, you enter 0.

This probably should be changed to wishlist, namely that
Clear Browsing history also clears RichResults.

[John Vivirito (gnomefreak)]

Assigned to mozilla-bugs team we will discuss this most likely tomorrow but since its not a bug it will be a bit harder to get it into archive. After releases all packages have to go through SRU pretty much means only security fixes but we will talk about this.

[John Vivirito (gnomefreak)]

I as well see this behavour and can confirm the work around works. marking as wishlist while im here

[Roger Lancefield (rlancefield)]

Disappointingly, this issue remains with the final "gold" release version of Firefox 3.

I agree with Michael Losonsky above, this may not be a bug in code, but the refusal of the "RichResults" to obey the "Clear Private Data" command presents a significant privacy issue (I find this very surprising, security and privacy are things that the Firefox team have always taken very seriously).

It's disappointing to see that this is a "wishlist" item only. IMHO the importance level should be set to "priority". It's not only furtive pr0n users who will be effected by this, think of the embarrassment this could cause when, for example, you sit in front of your machine with a customer, you start typing in a URL only for the auto-complete to suggest not only a similarly spelled site, but to produce a comprehensive list of pages that you visited when on that site. You don't need much of an imagination to picture the manifold ways in which this could cause some very awkward and embarrassing situations.

The fact that the only means to control this feature is by disabling it within "about:config" just seems to confirm that it is effectively a bug.

[wpippin (qejecit)]

When you are presented with an option to clear private history, you think that's what will happen. That's what used to happen. All this talk about wishlist and rich results is just so much baloney. Users expect their privacy to be protected and not to have to adjust some obscure option in "about:". If it's not a code bug, it's a bug in the developers' thinking. I wish it would be fixed. Honestly, if IE were available in Ubuntu, I'd think seriously about switching. This is a VERY ANNOYING bug or stubbornness in Firefox.

[Michael Losonsky (michl)]

"Users expect their privacy to be protected and not to have to adjust some obscure option in "about:""

Definitely! Too often the ubuntu folks ignore seroius problems just because a kludge or some other
workaround is available. I've stopped filing bugs and problems for this reason.

[jmkdev (jkorchmar)]

I also agree with Roger and Michael that not clearing the private data in the RichResults is a violation of the "Clear Private Data" Option. If this is not changed, RichResults should be disabled by default. I'm afraid downloading and installing firefox 3 will be blocked until this issue is resolved. We find that many users will not understand how to disable RichResults via setting "browser.urlbar.maxRichResults to 0" and therefore we will protect them by preventing the install.

Firefox 3 also has many issues with Ajax applications.

[kko (kko)]

For what it's worth, I too think 'wishlist' is pretty low for an issue like this.

Clearing (or not) the "RichResults", or having to disable it in about:config, is not a big issue for me, but it could be, and "Clear private data" should do exactly what it says, not "a close approximation". (Especially when, in starting Firefox 3.0 for the first time, you are presented with a page that talks about the improved security measures in this newest Firefox...)

[anthony trotto (anthony-trotto)]

Alot are saying the same thing. I just hope they fix it with a update soon. I hate having cookies and other unwanted stuff on my computer. Bugs and so on :(

[spork (ce1)]

The about:config work around does NOT work. Try setting it to 0 then back to 12 all your stuff is still there...

[Michael Losonsky (michl)]

Spork is right, but still there is something odd that happens.
No new addresses are added when you browse with 0, and
the ones that show up when you go back to 12 are sites I
visited a long time ago. The whole thing is strange.

[zaza1851983 (zaza1851983)]

It's very true. The history is like a closed box. The old addresses since my firefox2 can not be deleted and at the same time, no new addresses are being added (whether with 0 or 12). Also when I click tools->clear private data, I don't get that dialogue at all. This is really irritating.

[Mackenzie Morgan (maco.m)]

I'm setting this to Medium and Triaged for the following reasons:
- Medium because it has significant privacy implications
- Triaged because we know that the actual nature of the issue is that "Clear Private Data" does not also clear the private data from the "Rich Results" for the Awesome Bar

[Romano Giannetti (romano-giannetti)]

This is a "me too" with a comment: this is not limited to the Rich Results list.
Before doing a "clear private data":

(0)pern:~/.mozilla/firefox/az16pkko.default% du Cache OfflineCache
48024 Cache
8 OfflineCache

after doing it:

(0)pern:~/.mozilla/firefox/az16pkko.default% du Cache OfflineCache
48024 Cache
8 OfflineCache

I noticed that because I uploaded a file to my web server and Firefox continues to give me the old version no matter what I do (MS Explorer works ok).

I tried to set "clear on exit" and restarting it, whatever, to no avail. So I think this bug is
worse than what suggested here.

[Romano Giannetti (romano-giannetti)]

Hmmm... something fishy going on. Adding the "clear private data" add-on, selecting clear private data from the right-click menu, and the windows appears and the data is correctly clearead:

(0)pern:~/.mozilla/firefox/az16pkko.default% du Cache OfflineCache
68 Cache
8 OfflineCache

[Mackenzie Morgan (maco.m)]

Romano:
Is it just keeping the memory open, or is the file still accessible somewhere in Firefox? If it's not still find-able, I'd say what you found is just a good ol' fashioned memory leak.

[zaza1851983 (zaza1851983)]

I got a similar problem, only a little bit different, I don't know if this the right place to post it, but I'l do it anyway. The problem is that I don't get the clear private data window at all, whenever I click shift+ctrl + del or Tools-> clear private data, simply nothing happens. Does anyone else have this problem?

--- On Mon, 10/13/08, Romano Giannetti <email address hidden> wrote:

> From: Romano Giannetti <email address hidden>
> Subject: [Bug 209794] Re: "Clear Private Data" does not clear private data from the Awesome Bar's Rich Results list
> To: <email address hidden>
> Date: Monday, October 13, 2008, 9:28 PM
> Hmmm... something fishy going on. Adding the "clear
> private data" add-
> on, selecting clear private data from the right-click menu,
> and the
> windows appears and the data is correctly clearead:
>
> (0)pern:~/.mozilla/firefox/az16pkko.default% du Cache
> OfflineCache
> 68 Cache
> 8 OfflineCache
>
> --
> "Clear Private Data" does not clear private data
> from the Awesome Bar's Rich Results list
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/209794
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct
> subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “firefox-3.0” source package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> Steps to Reproduce:
> 1. Navigate to a few websites
> 2. Tools -> Clear Private Data
> 3. Begin to type into the address bar the name of a site
> you visited before
>
> Expected results:
> The site is not recognized because private data was
> cleared.
>
> Actual results:
> Your browsing habits are clearly visible in the dropdown
> from the address bar.

[Mackenzie Morgan (maco.m)]

On Tue, 2008-10-14 at 21:46 +0000, zaza1851983 wrote:
> I got a similar problem, only a little bit different, I don't know if
> this the right place to post it, but I'l do it anyway. The problem is
> that I don't get the clear private data window at all, whenever I click
> shift+ctrl + del or Tools-> clear private data, simply nothing happens.
> Does anyone else have this problem?

Any chance you unchecked "Ask me before clearing private data" in the
Preferences?

[Romano Giannetti (romano-giannetti)]

mackenzie: I am not sure I understand. The problem is that, although the web server has a new file (with the same name), firefox continues to give me the old version until I manage to clear cache data (at least, during the first 10 minutes since the change, I didn't wait more). MS explorer works ok.

zaza: yes, it's the same problem I have.

mackenzie: I tried with and without the "Ask me..." selected. Th only way I have to show the clear private data windows is via the right-click menu proportioned by the cited add-on.

Notice that happens on just one installation. On my laptop, which in principle has the same installation and configuration, clear private data works as supposed.

[zaza1851983 (zaza1851983)]

Very good, that was stupidity on my side, but still interesting to notice that this check box was by default unchecked.
And then of course, I still have the problem like everybody else, that is after clearning the private data, nothing is removed, and no new history is added :)

--- On Tue, 10/14/08, Mackenzie Morgan <email address hidden> wrote:

> From: Mackenzie Morgan <email address hidden>
> Subject: Re: [Bug 209794] Re: "Clear Private Data" does not clear private data from the Awesome Bar's Rich Results list
> To: <email address hidden>
> Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 11:19 AM
> On Tue, 2008-10-14 at 21:46 +0000, zaza1851983 wrote:
> > I got a similar problem, only a little bit different,
> I don't know if
> > this the right place to post it, but I'l do it
> anyway. The problem is
> > that I don't get the clear private data window at
> all, whenever I click
> > shift+ctrl + del or Tools-> clear private data,
> simply nothing happens.
> > Does anyone else have this problem?
>
> Any chance you unchecked "Ask me before clearing
> private data" in the
> Preferences?
>
> --
> "Clear Private Data" does not clear private data
> from the Awesome Bar's Rich Results list
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/209794
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct
> subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “firefox-3.0” source package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> Steps to Reproduce:
> 1. Navigate to a few websites
> 2. Tools -> Clear Private Data
> 3. Begin to type into the address bar the name of a site
> you visited before
>
> Expected results:
> The site is not recognized because private data was
> cleared.
>
> Actual results:
> Your browsing habits are clearly visible in the dropdown
> from the address bar.

[Romano Giannetti (romano-giannetti)]

After installing the add-on, the clearing of cache etc works again. It didn't remove the Awsome Bar results, tough.

Puzzled.

[zcat (zcat)]

Just adding my 2c, I also consider this a bug. Clear browsing history ought to clear all of the user's browsing history, not just 'most of it'. Obscure workarounds are not good enough. Please fix this.

[Alexander Sack (asac)]

please file a bug for this upstream in bugzilla.mozilla.org against the browser::places component

[Alexander Sack (asac)]

and give us the bug id.

[hawran (hawran.diskuse)]

User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.0.3) Gecko/2008092510 Ubuntu/8.04 (hardy) Firefox/3.0.3
Build Identifier: Firefox version: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9b4) Gecko/2008031317 Firefox/3.0b4

From bugs.launchpad.net: Alexander Sack:
please file a bug for this upstream in bugzilla.mozilla.org against the browser::places component:
--
Bug #209794
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/firefox-3.0/+bug/209794

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Navigate to a few websites
2. Tools -> Clear Private Data
3. Begin to type into the address bar the name of a site you visited before
Actual Results:
Your browsing habits are clearly visible in the dropdown from the address bar.

Expected Results:
The site is not recognized because private data was cleared.

[Mak77 (mak77)]

are showed urls bookmarks?
also after a clear private data bookmarks will still be showed in the location bar dropdown.

[Mardeg (mardeg)]

Can you tell us if Tools -> Options, "Privacy" section, "Settings" button in private data, the boxes are ticked for "Browsing History", "Download History", "Cache", and "Offline Website data"?
If they are, and items still appear in the dropdown after you clear private data, does a yellow star appear in the items?

[hawran (hawran.diskuse)]

Done:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=462831

[Alexander Sack (asac)]

thanks a lot.

[Jo-hermans (jo-hermans)]

I haven't heard of such a bug yet - everybody always assumed that they were seeing their history in the dropdown list, but never realized that they were *bookmarks*. You can recognize them by the yellow star at the right. Immediately after a Clear Private Data, all entries should have that start, because all the history is cleared.

[Joppie (jf-van-hemert)]

Bug is easily reproduced both under windows and Linux.
Clear private date should behave just like that: a clean location bar.
No bookmark, no historie, no reminders, just an empty location bar.
Privacy means if you request a void you get a void.
A semi erase is semi usefull i.e. obviously useless. (sorry one needs to be this loud to get a privacy issue across)

[Jo-hermans (jo-hermans)]

Clear Private Data should erase bookmarks ? Excuse me ? That would result in a few million bug reports. If you really want that amount of privacy, then you should nuke your entire profile after you've finished with surfing.

You want an empty location bar without actually deleting the bookmarks ? Then this should also mean that bookmarks can't be used anymore in the awesome bar (before or after you've cleared it). See bug 463661.

[Joppie (jf-van-hemert)]

A semi erase of the location bar is semi useful i.e. obviously useless.
Privacy means if you request void you get void. How difficult can this be?

Thanks for the address at bugzilla. Just reported the bug there.

[hawran (hawran.diskuse)]

I'd say we've got a little misunderstanding here.
I don't think that <email address hidden> (the comment #4) really wants to erase bookmarks.

The problem is as follows: I can have a lot of 'weird' links within my bookmarks. With this 'new feature', when I start to write words into the address bar they could appear now unintentionally and THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. Where should I save those links then?

I could be happy with some option like 'Search Bookmarks When Typing Into Address Bar'.

I really HATE those 'new features' which come WITHOUT possibility to turn them off. Not to mention the default value 'On' when they're being introduced.

[Jo-hermans (jo-hermans)]

see bug 463661 and bug 460343

[Doron-feldman (doron-feldman)]

The bookmarks issue is a different story. After clicking Clear Private Data the history and the cache remain the same *regardless* of bookmarks (as of version 3.0.4). I would like to note that they do get cleared after repeating Clear Private Data several times.

[Tom (tom6)]

lol, i'm having the same trouble.

Can someone add another line to the 'Clear Private Data' box as some people may want to keep stuff there, although i cant think why. I quite like the way a fresh new install has all the 'getting started sites in there (aswell as everywhere else).

Would using different browsers for different things help as a workaround?

[Tom (tom6)]

Hmmm, someone suggested a workaround that seems to work

In address bar type

    about:config

instead of a urls location, now promise to be careful and find line

    browser.urlbar.maxRichResults

change from the default 12 to 0

[Tom (tom6)]

Dohh, the work-around was in this bug-report and it doesn't work 100% anyway (as also reported). Sorry

[Mak77 (mak77)]

in 3.1 you should be able to choice the location bar context between history, bookmarks, history & bookmarks

[Dave (dwickford)]

I have just installed 3.0.5 for Windows, and the problem is present. I would like to know where to go to manually delete the data on my disk drive. I found nothing in the registry, and a search of all files by date wasn't very helpful. This would then be a manual workaround. Setting 12 to 0 just reduces visibility.

Strangely I got a Kasperspy worm the same day as upgrading from Firefox 2, if this has happened to anyone else it could be a real issue.(sorry for mixing bugs.)

[hawran (hawran.diskuse)]

Hi,
Do I understand the Comment #9 correctly?

In 3.1 I'll be able to setup some options to choose from where the Address Bar is going to take data for showing them as hints while I'm entering part of URL into the Address Bar?

[Greg Mars (authentec)]

I was really surprised there was no supported way to clear the location bar.
Furthermore, this problem persists in 3.0.5 and it's extremely annoying.
It IS a bug and a big enough bug for me to invoke 'sudo apt-get purge firefox'.

There are times when you simply DO NOT WANT firefox blabbing about everywhere you've been.
Imagine doing a presentation for a client and accidentally bringing up work for a competitor.
Or visiting a politically 'questionable' website under a repressive regime.
The scope for embarrassment/harm is boundless because this program is a complete chatterbox and there is no obvious way to shut it up!

I was *this* close to getting rid of it when I found a way to delete its dossier.
I backed up my bookmarks since I didn't want to risk losing them
(note to mozilla, one generally bookmarks sites one wants to be reminded of)
shutdown firefox, then did a 'locate places.sqlite' and deleted it.

That seemed to work.
On relaunch, the bar was only populated by sites in my bookmarks.
That's somewhat annoying in itself but there might be an about:config option to turn that off.

[Vtrain (niartv)]

This bug does not exist. At least in 3.0.5 the history is cleaned in the address bar. If you still see URLs there after privacy cleaning please check if they have an yellow star? If they do they are your own bookmarks. To prevent a particular URL to appear you have to remove it from your bookmarks or use the solution described above to change a setting in about:config

Please check also the upstream bug on mozila.org?
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=462831

David

[zcat (zcat)]

OK, I've cleared history and agree that only bookmarks remain. It does seem that they're arranged in 'most visited' order which some people would argue is still history that should have been erased.

I can also see the point that if I have some dodgy pornsite buried three folders deep in my bookmarks, I do NOT want that appearing on the screen simply because I started to type some other similar URL.

Perhaps we need an option 'don't show bookmarks in awesomebar' - that's a wishlist item though.

Other than that, I'm happy enough that 'erase history' is doing what it should. Anybody wanting more privacy probably needs to set up a different profile for doing dodgy stuff where no history is ever saved in the first place.

[hawran (hawran.diskuse)]

Hi Vtrain,
I might agree with you that the history will be cleaned properly after one have cleared private data.

However, I do NOT think that 'changing a setting within about:config' is a proper solution.
When I set it to the value of 0, I cannot see the history at all!

What I do not really want is showing urls from my bookmarks but urls I've seen recently (the REAL history).

Well, I think that Marco's comment (please, see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=462831#c9 ) reads we should wait for the version 3.1. I hope.

Cheers,
hawran

[Mackenzie Morgan (maco.m)]

Are any of you reading what the others are writing? Vtrain and zcat both
say that in version 3.0.5, clearing history works fine, and only
bookmarks remain, as they should. The about:config thing is turn off
having even bookmarks show.

[Greg Mars (authentec)]

I just checked, 3.0.5 is clearing location bar history.
However, it's more complex than that because I am quite sure it was NOT doing that before I deleted places.sqlite.
I had a ~100MB places.sqlite file and I had requested that firefox 3.0.5 clear my history several times before moving it and always found sites not in my favorites showing up in the location bar.
My theory is that 3.0.5 does not clear historical browsing data acquired with a previous version of firefox 3 but will clear sites visited since the upgrade.

[hawran (hawran.diskuse)]

Hi Mackenzie,
For starters, there WAS NOT zcat's comment at that time I added my one.

Additionally, there have been two different things together, unfortunately:

1) not clearing the history data - the issue has been solved apparently

2) taking data from bookmarks as hints when writing a url into the Awesome Address Bar.
I'm pretty sure this functionality had not been there before the 3... version of FF and I don't like without possibility to switch it of. That about:config hack is NOT A PROPER SOLUTION.

However, as I wrote above, see https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=462831#c9 ...

[Mackenzie Morgan (maco.m)]

I'm marking this Fix Released because in 3.0.5 the history is cleared properly.

The feature some of you do not want and wish had a graphical way of being disabled...well, that falls into the category of being a separate wishlist bug regarding Firefox's preferences dialog.

[hawran (hawran.diskuse)]

OK.
No problem.

On 1/12/09, Mackenzie Morgan <email address hidden> wrote:
> I'm marking this Fix Released because in 3.0.5 the history is cleared
> properly.
>
> The feature some of you do not want and wish had a graphical way of
> being disabled...well, that falls into the category of being a separate
> wishlist bug regarding Firefox's preferences dialog.
>
>
> ** Changed in: firefox-3.0 (Ubuntu)
>
> Status: Triaged => Fix Released
>
>
> --
> "Clear Private Data" does not clear private data from the Awesome Bar's Rich Results list
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/209794
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in The Mozilla Firefox Browser: New
>
> Status in "firefox-3.0" source package in Ubuntu: Fix Released
>
>
> Bug description:
> Steps to Reproduce:
> 1. Navigate to a few websites
> 2. Tools -> Clear Private Data
> 3. Begin to type into the address bar the name of a site you visited before
>
> Expected results:
> The site is not recognized because private data was cleared.
>
> Actual results:
> Your browsing habits are clearly visible in the dropdown from the address bar.
>

[Mak77 (mak77)]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 423507 ***

[Doug (patriot-2000)]

Ok, it's not a bug. However, there is no reason I can think of that the software people require this feature. Firefox is not the only browser out there. After reading the responses from Mackenzie, I changed to Google Chrome. Apparently, they understand what security is.

[Farmgirl (farmgirl)]

Whatever the problem/s with this particular feature in Firefox, 'bug' or no, its one of the most annoying features ever! It would not be so bad if the URLs listed were the ones I frequent. More often than not it's the ones which I don't want to visit again that seem to get listed. I've tried shortening my list via about:config, but as hawran wrote, it's not the solution. I found that setting it to 0 still gives 1 result too many! In my particular case, the first on my Rich Results list is the one I really would like to drop!

[Gervase Markham (gerv-mozilla)]

Bug 451915 - move Firefox/Places bugs to Firefox/Bookmarks and History. Remove all bugspam from this move by filtering for the string "places-to-b-and-h".

In Thunderbird 3.0b, you do that as follows:
Tools | Message Filters
Make sure the correct account is selected. Click "New"
Conditions: Body contains places-to-b-and-h
Change the action to "Delete Message".
Select "Manually Run" from the dropdown at the top.
Click OK.

Select the filter in the list, make sure "Inbox" is selected at the bottom, and click "Run Now". This should delete all the bugspam. You can then delete the filter.

Gerv