"other site data" shown in Chromium Settings not being deleted with Vivaldi UI

seeley

@DoctorG said in Cookies in Chromium Settings not being deleted.:

chrome://settings/content/all

Thanks. It showed nothing in chrome://settings/content/all, but under Chromium settings/ Privacy and Security / Clear Browsing Data to clear browsing data there, it just mentions the number of cookies. There's no way to delete (or even view) these cookies) from the Vivaldi settings? Thx

DoctorG

@seeley What happens after restart of Vivaldi?
Cookies gone?

seeley

@DoctorG Thanks. No, they are still there.

The cookies are gone in the Vivaldi settings, but some cookies remain in the screenshot I provided above..

I have a habit of clearing cookies before I exit Vivaldi using Control-Shift-Delete (All Time). I thought I was but the chromium settings shows otherwise.

Pathduck

@seeley It's not Cookies - it clearly states "Cookies and other site data"

"Other site data" could mean other types of storage, it's not cookies.
Local Storage, Session Storage etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_storage

Could be a bug there that Vivaldi does not properly clear Storage using its own Delete Browsing Data, but Chromium's does.

I reported a similar issue a good while back:
VB-79935 Data retained in profile data files even if all browsing data is deleted
This included Storage, and also Site Engagement, but a quick test here shows that Site Engagement is actually cleared now. Not web storage though.

seeley

@Pathduck
OK. Thanks. Probably a bug as to why it's not deleting. So how do I delete or view "Other site data"? When I do my control shift delete before exiting Vivaldi everything is checked besides Passwords. I guess I need to clear using both sets of UI.

Pathduck

@seeley said in Cookies in Chromium Settings not being deleted.:

So how do I delete or view "Other site data"?

Well, to delete it you (obviously) have to go into the Chromium settings.

You can't view Web Storage. But there are tools.
https://github.com/obsidianforensics/hindsight

Here's test I did:

After clearing data through Vivaldi's UI:

λ hindsight -i "d:\bin\Vivaldi-stable\User Data"
Start time: 2024-05-03 18:18:30.745
Input directory: d:\bin\Vivaldi-stable\User Data
Output name: Hindsight Report (2024-05-03T18-18-30).xlsx

 Processing:
    Profile: d:\bin\Vivaldi-stable\User Data\Default
                     Detected Chrome version:            [    111 ]
                                 URL records:            [      0 ]
                            Download records:            [      0 ]
                               Cache records:            [      0 ]
                           GPU Cache records:            [      0 ]
                            Autofill records:            [      0 ]
                            Bookmark records:            [     20 ]
                       Local Storage records:            [    601 ]
                     Session Storage records:            [     37 ]
                                  Extensions:            [      2 ]
                    Extension Cookie records:            [      1 ]
                          Login Data records:            [      4 ]
                            Preference Items:            [     39 ]
                Site Characteristics records:            [      0 ]
                           File System Items:            [      4 ]
                              Cookie records:            [      0 ]
                                HSTS records:            [      1 ]

 Running plugins:
          Chrome Extension Names (v20210424):   - 0 extension URLs parsed -
       Generic Timestamp Decoder (v20160907):     - 0 timestamps parsed -
  Google Analytics Cookie Parser (v20170130):       - 0 cookies parsed -
                 Google Searches (v20160912):      - 0 searches parsed -
    Load Balancer Cookie Decoder (v20200213):       - 0 cookies parsed -
         Quantcast Cookie Parser (v20160907):       - 0 cookies parsed -
             Query String Parser (v20170225):    - 0 query strings parsed -
         Time Discrepancy Finder (v20170129):     - 0 differences parsed -

Of note here is Local/Session Storage and File System records.
It gets the Chromium version wrong. I didn't clear passwords and a couple extensions installed.
Possibly also the HSTS records are a problem, could reveal what sites are visited. But the domains are encoded so (probably?) can't be easily found.

Here's after clearing data through Chromium's UI:

Start time: 2024-05-03 18:21:34.970
Input directory: d:\bin\Vivaldi-stable\User Data
Output name: Hindsight Report (2024-05-03T18-21-34).xlsx

 Processing:
    Profile: d:\bin\Vivaldi-stable\User Data\Default
                     Detected Chrome version:            [    111 ]
                                 URL records:            [      0 ]
                            Download records:            [      0 ]
                               Cache records:            [      0 ]
                           GPU Cache records:            [      0 ]
                            Autofill records:            [      0 ]
                            Bookmark records:            [     20 ]
                       Local Storage records:            [      0 ]
                     Session Storage records:            [      0 ]
                                  Extensions:            [      2 ]
                    Extension Cookie records:            [      1 ]
                          Login Data records:            [      4 ]
                            Preference Items:            [     39 ]
                Site Characteristics records:            [      0 ]
                           File System Items:            [      0 ]
                              Cookie records:            [      0 ]
                                HSTS records:            [      0 ]

 Running plugins:
          Chrome Extension Names (v20210424):   - 0 extension URLs parsed -
       Generic Timestamp Decoder (v20160907):     - 0 timestamps parsed -
  Google Analytics Cookie Parser (v20170130):       - 0 cookies parsed -
                 Google Searches (v20160912):      - 0 searches parsed -
    Load Balancer Cookie Decoder (v20200213):       - 0 cookies parsed -
         Quantcast Cookie Parser (v20160907):       - 0 cookies parsed -
             Query String Parser (v20170225):    - 0 query strings parsed -
         Time Discrepancy Finder (v20170129):     - 0 differences parsed -

So Storage, File System is cleared as well as HSTS records.

So how worrying is this?
Depends how paranoid you are I guess - and if you let other people use your computer, and also are technical enough to dig through your browser profile. Me, not so much

seeley

@Pathduck
Very interesting. Thank you.

Local Storage records and Session Storage records.. WOW.

So I guess every once in a while, I'll go into the Chromium settings and clear them.

Pathduck

@seeley You can read about these things here to make up your mind how much it matters to you:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Storage_API
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FileSystem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Strict_Transport_Security

I have updated my old bug report and will try to get some attention to it from the devs...

seeley

@Pathduck Thank you for your help! And in trying to get some attention from developers. I'll check out the links when I have more time. Thx.

seeley

@Pathduck One last thing. I was reading another thread (link below) that you participated in about the folder AppData\Local\Vivaldi\User Data\Default\Cache\Cache_Data.

I figured I can use a program like CCleaner to empty that folder on a regular basis, but it has no effect on Other Site Data shown in the Chromium Settings UI. Where else would this Other Site Data (that's not clearable via Vivaldi's settings) be stored locally?

https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/88379/delete-browsing-data-doesn-t-completely-clear-the-cache?_=1714759388611&lang=en-US

Pathduck

@seeley said in Cookies in Chromium Settings not being deleted.:

I figured I can use a program like CCleaner to empty that folder on a regular basis, but it has no effect on Other Site Data shown in the Chromium Settings UI. Where else would this Other Site Data (that's not clearable via Vivaldi's settings) be stored locally?

Well, it's quite obvious
Session Storage
Local Storage
File System

All these are safe to delete, as long as the browser is closed. Note that some sites use Storage to store your settings.

For HSTS entries I have no idea...

seeley

@Pathduck Delated all Browsing Data except passwords in Vivaldi. Closed Vivaldi and cleared those 3 folders, and launched Vivaldi with my NIC card disabled, so my homepage wouldn't load. And the Chromium settings still showed Other Site Data from sites.

To add, I checked the Storage folder, but it seems that one of my extensions lives in there. Hold on.... maybe it's not an extension. Let me clear Storage as well.

Pathduck

@seeley Then I have no idea. Just fumbling in the dark and guessing here, don't ever think me an expert on Chromium weirdness

Probably some reference in some file somewhere then.
Do what I do, use a tool to search files for strings and find where its located.

To add, I checked the Storage folder, but it seems that one of my extensions lives in there. Hold on.... maybe it's not an extension. Let me clear Storage as well.

I never said Storage. Don't delete Storage.
mpognobbkildjkofajifpdfhcoklimli is Vivaldi itself.

By the way, deleting folders is not a supported way to clear browser data - if it breaks your browser that's fully on you.

seeley

@Pathduck I misunderstood. I didn't delete.. Just moved to the desktop. I'm good. Thanks. The Other Site Data is still there however. It's stupid to be spending this much time. on this.
I appreciate your help!

Pathduck

@seeley said in Cookies in Chromium Settings not being deleted.:

It's stupid to be spending this much time. on this.

I fully agree

seeley

@Pathduck STILL HERE!! I think I found it. The directory is User Data\Default\WebStorage. I haphazardly started removing folders one at a time of course (just to the desktop) and Webstorage seems to be the one that holds "Other Site Data" It doesn't hold cookies; only Other Site Data.

CONCLUSION: Vivaldi's Control-Shift-Delete should delete exactly what Chromium deletes (chrome://settings/clearBrowserData) but it doesn't. It doesn't clear "Other site data" and doesn't clear all of the "Cached images and files".