Clear Private Browsing Data Not Working Again

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Hi Guys,

Just updated Brave to the latest version 1.16.1 moments ago and then I checked again to confirm. The ‘Clear Private Browsing Data’ is not working again. However, this time round Brave does not crash, the site and everything else remain on the browser. It does not appear to have cleared anything.

Please advise.

Thank you,
Andrew

2

@yanandrew,
Can you please tell me whether or not you’re using an iPhone or iPad device?

1 Like
3

Hello Mattches,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

I am on iOS 13.4.1 on both my iPhone as well as my iPad.

Can I just check with you:
Previously before the latest update, whenever I trigger the Clear Private Browsing Data function, Brave will eliminate all data including any open tabs resulting in just one open tab displaying Brave’s default page with the stats (Ads & Trackers Blocked, HTTPS Upgrades and Est Time Saved).

Since the latest update, all open tabs remain open after the Clear Private Browsing Data function, which make me wonder if the private browsing data were cleared at all because all the tabs are still showing all those sites.

I hope the above helps.

Regards,
Andrew

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4

Hello, Andrew. Would you be able to record a short video of the issue for us? I’d like to make sure we’re following your lead and steps exactly when reproducing the issue on our end. You can report from iOS using the built-in screen recorder.

5

Hello Sampson,

Yes, sure. I will try to keep it short but sufficiently informative. Please bear with me coz it’s my first time using this feature on my phone. Let’s begin:

In the previous version of Brave, triggering the ‘Clear Private Browsing Data’ would remove all data including any opened tabs, leaving just one displaying Brave’s default landing page like the image below:

pklbnimnddhiieoh.png

After the latest update, all opened tabs remain open and still displaying the sites from the user’s last visit after the ‘Clear Private Browsing Data’ function is triggered. For example, say at the end of my browser use, I have three tabs opened:

  1. Maowash (an online pet store / bakery);
  2. Da On Fine Korean Cuisine (the website of a local Korean restaurant); and
  3. The Sun Daily (a local news portal)
    Watch the attached clip on what happens when I try to clear private browsing data on my iPad.

Hope it helps to illustrate.

Take care & stay safe ya?

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(Attachment Brave Private Data.MOV is missing)

6

Resending in mp4.

pklbnimnddhiieoh.png

Email Signature.png

Brave Private Data.mp4 (1.98 MB)

8

Thank you for the video, Andrew. I can see that the data does appear to be cleared, but (as you stated) the opened tabs aren’t closed. That said, if you look closely, the opened tabs are refreshed when you clear private data. Abruptly closing any opened tabs is probably not a good design, as it could take some users by surprise.

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Hello Sampson,

  1. How did you come to conclude that all data were deleted?
  2. If the tabs stay opened with the sites refreshed, isn’t that as good as not removing all data entirely? Since refreshing a page of a website will basically allow those sites to re-save their data on the user’s computer?

I do find it rather uncomfortable still because as a user, the only way for me to check on the data removal is by looking up the History section of the browser, but the user controls the History by configuring it in the Settings. Most users are not familiar with things work when a browser lands on a site, what data go where, etc. Therefore, we only have these functions to give us a peace of mind. If ‘Clear Private Browsing Data’ clears the data but a some are re-saved in our computer because of the tabs remained open, that to me is effectively not clearing all data at all. That is private browsing by name only.

Please don’t get me wrong. I like Brave and everything you Guys have worked so hard to build, so it will be unfortunate if one of the key features that most users have come to rely on in a browser cannot perform its function completely. As a user, I cannot see whether they data were indeed removed but pretty certain there will still be some data stored due to the opened tabs (plus whatever information that are produced when a browser connects with a site and where in the computer these are stored.) and I do not think closing those opened tabs would startle the user since he made it a point to clear his browsing history manually. On the contrary, the user would be worried to see those tabs there still. If this feature cannot function 100%, it makes me wonder about the other features. I do hope you Guys can get this rectified as soon as possible or at least try to find out the cause that’s again preventing the browser from doing what it could in previous versions (this is not the first time I’m reporting about private browsing data clearance and there seem to be plenty of others too?

Regards
Andrew

10

Can you try something for me? Please log into a site, and with that site authenticated, perform the same action. This should confirm for us if cookies and more are deleted. What I suspect will happen is the page will refresh beneath the modal dialog, and you will no longer be logged in.

11

Hey @sampson,

Apologies for the delayed response.

I just tried logging to my twitter account, liked a couple of tweets, replied to a message and joined a channel. Then, after I’ve logged out of twitter, I went into Settings to clear private browsing data. The exact same thing happened: Right at the top of the screen the activity wheel appeared and disappeared after two revolutions, then I exited Settings to return to the browser window, which still displays the twitter logged out page.

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