Website saving data without cookies?

k_man

goodValue said:

I believe I login to google once a week, but do not access anything else during this time.
And I clear the browser after finishing.

But is Chrome logged into your Google account, e.g to sync passwords, bookmarks etc?

AstonSmith

Did you visit the forum with a bookmark?

If yes, does the bookmark contain one of those PHP session IDs in the URL?

goodValue

I use a gmail account to login to another service. Does this count as having a Google account?
I don't knowingly do any syncing.


The bookmark puts  a URL starting with:    https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g1-i10702-
Is this what you mean?

k_man

goodValue said:

I use a gmail account to login to another service. Does this count as having a Google account?
I don't knowingly do any syncing.


The bookmark puts  a URL starting with:    https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g1-i10702-
Is this what you mean?

On the TripAdvisor website, what is the top option on the menu?
Mine is Sign in, as I am not already signed in.

Yours may be logging you in automatically, using your Google (Gmail) account.

And (apologies if this was already stated), is this on a computer or a mobile device? And which operating system?

goodValue

There is a "Sign In" button on the top right.

If I use my gmail name/password as identification for another website, does this mean that I am signing in to Google?

It's a laptop running Windows 10.

k_man

goodValue said:

There is a "Sign In" button on the top right.

If I use my gmail name/password as identification for another website, does this mean that I am signing in to Google?

It's a laptop running Windows 10.

Then you aren't signed in indirectly to TripAdvisor, so not that.

Using the Gmail email as the username address somewhere else does not log you into Google.

So not either of those :shrug:

AstonSmith

goodValue said:

The bookmark puts  a URL starting with:    https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g1-i10702-
Is this what you mean?

Some forums put an ID in the URL, for example this is from a different forum:

forumdisplay.php?s=61f9c973ceb7b5627ff18401a242d7a2&f=7

I was thinking that if you used a bookmark every time, it'd use the same ID and thus remember you. However, since you've mentioned the website, I've had a look and it doesn't do that.

Unfortunately I couldn't reproduce your issue, every topic returns to being unread for me. The mystery remains.

k_man

goodValue said:

It's Chrome with the following settings:

  Block third-party cookies

  Clear cookies and site data when you close all windows

  Send a "Do Not Track" request with your browsing traffic

I recently added a cookie exception to make it easy to do two step verification with email.

I didn't think this was of any consequence for this current problem unless ....

  Yahoo own TripAdvisor, which can then save my activity via the login.yahoo.com cookie??

Just re-read this.

Are you also clearing History?
Site data is not the same as History:
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2392709#zippy=,data-that-can-be-deleted

Easy to check, is there anything in History when you reopen Chrome?

goodValue

Easy to check, is there anything in History when you reopen Chrome?

That is it!

I've only recently switched to Chrome.
Before, I used Firefox, and this deleted everything when the browser closed.

Is there any good reason why Chrome does not also do this?

And, Chrome also keeps data on your activity on the websites (so knows which topics you have read).

Checking through the settings, I cannot see any way of deleting browsing history automatically.

I tried Incognito mode, but this deletes the one cookie that I want to keep.

k_man

You would need to install a Chrome extension to do this automatically.

I assume Chrome does not do this itself as there has been no/little demand for the feature.