why does google pref id cookie keep comming back???

[LMHmedchem]

The google pref id cookie keeps appearing on my cookie list even though google.com and all google domains are set to block in the cookie manager. I am also blocking java script for all google domains with noscript. Why is the seamonkey cookie manager failing to function properly for this cookie?

I only allow session cookies, so I am also unsure why cookies remain on my computer after I have left a website or closed a tab.

LMHmedchem

[patrickjdempsey]

Since you are expecting cookies to expire after every session, you can alternatively set SeaMonkey to delete cookies on exit.

Preference > Privacy & Security > Private Data:

check "Always clear my private data..."
uncheck "Ask me before clearing..."

Then check only the items you want deleted at exit. I like to delete the Cache at exit because it prevents cache corruption and is important for website testing. You probably want to delete Cookies and Authenticated Sessions.

[LMHmedchem]

I already have seamonkey set to delete all private data on exit. There is nothing I keep except saved passwords. I don't see any reason to keep anything from previous browser sessions. My default settings are to block third party cookies and ask me every time about others. I never accept anything but session cookies. For some sites like google, I am set to block.

I may have managed to get the google cookies blocked, but I had to set it in a number of places. Even though I had permissions set to block in the data manager, under tools > cookie manager "accept session cookies" still had the dot next to it. I changed it there, and also in the data manager when I deleted the pref id cookie with the checkbox to prevent the site from adding further cookies. We will see if that keeps working. Google seems to work just fine even with noscript blocking java script and all cookies blocked, so I don't see why they are necessary in the first place.

Can someone explain why the pref id cookie is already in place when I start up my browser and haven't going to any google sites?

My other question is about why closing a tab doesn't delete all cookies from the sites that that tab had visited. I clear everything on exit, but it may be all day before I close my browser. I would be better if every tab acted like its own session. Even when I temporarily allow java script on a tab, I see all of the other tabs reloading, meaning that the java script is able to access all of the pages I have open, not just the page I allowed permission on. I think that cookies should be cleared when you leave a page an move to another one.

LMHmedchem

[patrickjdempsey]

It might be possible to do something like that, but it sounds terribly confusing to me. Especially in cases where the same site may be open in different tabs or even different windows.

[therube]

> haven't going to any google sites

SeaMonkey has "safebrowsing" (even if it isn't exactly working).
And safebrowsing is Google.
So in that respect, you have visited google.
(Don't know when, how often, ... but it does visit Google.)
You could try disabling browser.safebrowsing.enabled & see if that makes a difference?
Possibly even having Google as your search engine? Who knows, maybe it sends out a beacon on startup or something?

[smsmith]

I only allow session cookies, so I am also unsure why cookies remain on my computer after I have left a website or closed a tab.

I always thought a "session" was however long I had the browser open, even if I closed that tab, since things get cached and whatnot.

[Anonymosity]

When you blocked Google's cookies, did you also remove all its cookies? Even if a site gets its cookies blocked, any existing cookies might still persist until they expire.

[LMHmedchem]

I have come to the conclusion that google or seamonkey is altering my cookie permissions. I have turned off safebrowsing and set google.com to "block cookies" everywhere I can find to set it. This seems to work for a while. I can use google search and I don't have any google cookies. After a while however, I suddenly find that there are google cookies again and the permissions have been changed from "block" to "allow session cookies". I have confirmed this several times. It may be that if I grant temporary javascript permissions for something like google maps, the javascript changes the cookie permissions. If that is not the case, the seamonkey must be doing it for some reason. I have not been able to locate the exact moment when the permissions change and the cookies appear.

I tend to think that each browser tab or window should be its own session with its own temporary files location. When you leave a domain, the temp files for that tab should clear and each website should see your browser as one that just opened and is visiting its first page.

LMHmedchem

[therube]

Other then NoScript, what other extensions do you have?
What Plugins?

Does the same happen in a new, clean Profile?

(You know your SeaMonkey is outdated.)

[LMHmedchem]

Other then NoScript, what other extensions do you have?

Add-ons:
Adblock Plus 2.6
Clean Links 2.5.1
Enigmail 1.6
Ghostery 5.2.1
NoScript 2.6.8.26

I'm not sure the clean links is working. There was a toggle button in the navigation toolbar, but it has gone away.

Plugins:
Adobe Acrobat 11.0.2.0
Intel Identity Protection Technology 2.1.42.0
Intel Identity Protection Technology Updater 2.1.42.0
VLC WebPlugin 2.1.0.0

I'm not sure that IIPT does anything useful. It seems like just another method by which you can be tracked at the hardware level.

Does the same happen in a new, clean Profile?

I don't know, I will check on that.

You know your SeaMonkey is outdated.

Thanks, I just updated.

I have confirmed that permissions for google.com are reset to "allow session cookies" every time I restart seamonkey. I can manually change it back to block, but when I close seamonkey and open it again, the permissions have changed back to allow session. I do not have a pref ID and NID cookie, but as soon as I go to google.com, the cookies appear. This does not appear to affect other google domains such as id.google.com, maps.google.com, apis.google.com, etc.

LMHmedchem

[LMHmedchem]

I have tested this on a new profile and the new profile does not appear to have the same issue. I created a new profile and set the home page to google.com. I set cookies to allow first party cookies but to ask me every time about how long to keep them. This is my standard setting. When on google.com, I went to tools > cookie manager and selected "block cookies from this website". I then deleted the google cookies that were there before I set the domain to block and closed seamonkey. I opened the new profile and checked the permissions and they are still set to block. I used google for a search and permissions are not changed. I opened and closed a few times and used google a few times, but I still do not have google cookies or changed permissions. I did not alter the settings for safe search, so if that is on by default, it is still on for the new profile.

For my other profile, I can change the settings to block, but when I close and open again, the permissions have been changed back to "allow for session" even if I haven't visited a google page yet. There are no google cookies until I visit a google page, but the permissions have already been changed. Something must be altering the permissions on startup, or there is a bug in the permissions manager. I have looked around a bit in about:config to see if there is anything obvious there, but I don't see anything there.

LMHmedchem

[smsmith]

In the latest version of AdBlock Plus, "Allow some non-intrusive advertising" defaults to ON. If you look over the list of things that are OK, Google is in that list. So perhaps AdBlock Plus is making the change to allow the list to work as intended. Try adding AdBlock Plus to your new profile and see if things stop working the way you want. Or, try turning off the non-intrusive advertising feature, set your block settings and see if they get changed on you, because it could be one of the other extensions.

[therube]

Well you can always add ABP into the new Profile & check.
Likewise for the other extensions, checking after each.
Plugins I'm sure "allowed" themselves on the initial Profile setup.

[Anonymosity]

Have you got a user.js file in the old profile that could be changing cookie permissions?

[LMHmedchem]

The only .js file in the profile is prefs.js. I looked at that, but I don't see anything in there that looks like it is changing permissions. I'm not exactly sure what to look for there.

I tried un-checking "Allow some non-intrusive advertising" in addblock plus, but that doesn't change anything.

I don't see why any plugin or feature would think it's ok to change permissions that have been intentionally set by the user. I find that very annoying. Do we now have to password protect changes to every single feature in the application? It would be especially annoying if the change is being made by a privacy addon like addblock or noscript.

I suppose I will have to check all of my addons and plugins individually to see if I can find the right one.

LMHmedchem