Chrome is by far the most popular browser in the world, but for many macOS users, Safari is still the default browser. Like other major browsers, Safari also has some options to better protect your privacy. We give 3 tips for better privacy in Safari
Advertisers have many different ways to follow you while surfing. From first-party cookies (which store your preferences) to third-party tracking cookies (which keep records of your online activities), they all pose a major threat to your privacy on the internet. If you are not waiting for that, you can take action in Safari.
1. Make sure Intelligent Tracking Prevention is turned on
Safari has built in the Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) option since 2017 to protect the privacy of website visitors. Basically, ITP ensures that visitors cannot be tracked across different websites. The browser blocks and removes third-party trackers from websites that you have not visited in the past 30 days. The cookies on websites that you do visit frequently remain active for 24 hours. After that, they can no longer follow you on the web, but only on the website where the cookies come from.
In principle, the function should be on by default, but if you are not sure about that, you can click on in the Safari browser Preferences and then on Privacy. Make sure to check the box Avoid tracking by linked sites is on. You will also find an option here to block all cookies. Note that certain websites may no longer work properly.
2. Clean
Unfortunately, unlike many other major browsers, Safari doesn’t automatically delete cookies as soon as you exit. You must therefore manually delete cookies. You also do this in it Privacymenu below Manage website data. Here you will find a list of websites that keep cookies and trackers active in your browser. Click on a website and click remove to delete all cookies and trackers on the relevant website. You can also delete cookies and website data for all websites at once.
You can delete the browser history by using History to Clear history to go. Deleting your history makes it a lot harder for parties to follow you online.
3. Be aware of fingerprinting
Based on basic information on your computer, such as the operating system, browser version and screen resolution, websites can make a unique fingerprint that you can recognize as a visitor. It is good to be aware of this and to know how Safari handles this. Safari will provide a simplified version of your system configuration, making more devices look exactly the same for trackers. That makes it more difficult to get a profile from you. This protection layer is on by default, so you don’t have to do anything extra.
Ads are not blocked by default in Safari, but it is possible to download apps that prevent ads from being shown.
