How does Weather.com retain my searches?!?!?!

[1DietPepsiMax]

When you go to Weather.com, you punch in the ZipCode for the area you want to see the weather report for.

I don't understand how Weather.com retains my searches. Even after I "Reset Safari" and clear everything, cookies, browsing history, you name it, I have all the boxes checked. I always "Reset Safari" when finished surfing on the internet and logging off.

However, even after I've done this Weather.com still retains my ZipCode searches somehow. I could "Reset Safari," turn off the computer, unplug the DSL, go away for the weekend, and when I come back and turn everything on Weather.com still retains my ZipCode searches.

I don't like that. I want to be able to purge everything whenever I want to without the ability of any website to retain anything from my browsing history. If Weather.com is able to retain the ZipCode searches from this computer indefinitely, who knows what other information other websites are retaining/cataloguing!

Anyone know what's going on here?

[greger]

If you booked marked weather.com when you had your zip-code in, it will go back to your zip-code every time. try erasing the book mark and reseting safari and see what happens.

[tgell]

If you clear cookies from safari, does weather.com still retain your searches?

http://www.wikihow.com/Delete-Cookie...ri-Web-Browser

[gamecoding27]

they may be using I.P. to location

[1DietPepsiMax]

Yes, clearing of all cookies is part of it when I "Rest Safari" so cookies are cleared every time.

It's not picking up on my IP address, because my IP address is roaming, it's different every time I reset my modem.

What it's doing is retaining my specific zip code searches. I could punch in a zip code for New York City and check the weather there, then punch in a zip code for Los Angeles and check the weather there, then punch in a zip code for Miami and check the weather there. Somehow, Weather.com retains these searches indefinitely. New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami will always be listed at the top of the page of Weather.com as quick links every time I come back.

No matter what I do in terms of clearing cookies and browsing history, etc. Weather.com somehow knows I made those zip code searches from this computer. It's uncanny, I can't explain it, and I don't like it.

[tgell]

This is an old article but after browsing and clearing your cookies, try the command shown here and see if weather.com is listed.

[1DietPepsiMax]

No that doesn't work either. :-(

[tgell]

I came across a article that safari stores things in "HTML5 local storage" and does not give the option to clear it. But this person shows the commands in terminal to do it.

[gman863]

You might also try switching to Weather Underground, Accu-Weather, or the National Weather Service's official site at www.weather.gov.

Personally, I like Weather Underground the best, esp. during Hurricane Season - far more detailed info. than Weather.com.

[bosrez]

Looks like the information is being stored in

~/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http_www.weather.com_0.localstorage

possibly along with similar files from other sites.

[1DietPepsiMax]

Originally Posted by bosrez

Looks like the information is being stored in

~/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http_www.weather.com_0.localstorage

possibly along with similar files from other sites.

Hmmm, thanks but I just looked and I don't have a folder called Safari or LocalStorage in my Library folder or elsewhere. Thanks though for your idea.

[1DietPepsiMax]

Originally Posted by tgell

I came across a article that safari stores things in "HTML5 local storage" and does not give the option to clear it. But this person shows the commands in terminal to do it.

THanks for that link, I would like to try to "clear out the local storage." I don't know how to do this, can anybody explain it to me please?



What does it mean to "run":

rm -rf ~/Library/Safari/LocalStorage/http*

How do you do that? What is it?

Thank you!

[Colemanguy]

Open the terminal app and run that command, its a command that removes files.

[1DietPepsiMax]

It doesn't seem to do anything when I type that string of characters in to the Terminal app. How do I know it worked?

[1DietPepsiMax]

How do I just open up this "Local Storage" folder to see what's in there?

[1DietPepsiMax]

Well I was able to figure out an easy way to fix the Weather.com thing.

Click on "Safari" along the top of the screen.

From the drop-down menu click "Preferences."

In the "Preferences" box that pops up onto the scree click on "Privacy."

The first thing at the top of "Privacy" screen is something that says "Cookies and other website data:" with a click-bar labeled "Remove All Website Data..."

Click on that and that appears to take care of it.

So now my routine every time I log off is three-pronged:

1. Click "Rest Safari" under the Safari menu with all of the boxes checked.

2. Click "Clear History" under the History menu (even though Reset Safari is supposed to do that anyway).

3. Click "Remove All Website Data..." in the Privacy box.

Since I've been following these steps I've never seen Weather.com retain my zip code searches again. Which of course was not specifically the problem anyway, Weather.com is pretty harmless I'm sure. What gave me the creeps was the implication that ANY website at all could likely lock into my specific computer like that.

So now I feel a little more secure, but always wary still. Website people are sneaky, stealthy, and sinister, they will always try to trick ways to get into your computer and whatnot.