bug 155 - IE8 InPrivate mode destroys your sites sessions

Issue: #155
Affects: IE8 RC1

Internet Explorer 8 has a feature called InPrivate, a.k.a. "porn mode". in which the browser will automatically "lose" all your browsing information when you close the browser so that no other user, coworker, family member, or significant other can see where you've been. No history, no cookies, no cache, no search keywords, nada.

The feature isn't only for secretly viewing porn but also for checking private email on a shared computer, buying someone a secret gift, quietly searching for another career, or posting updates on imManEnoughToCollectChiPets.com without anyone knowing.

However the key to the success of this feature is ensuring that every last minuscule detail is removed - otherwise the feature is useless.

In the first previews of this feature, some traces were left behind so Microsoft worked hard to clean up any lose ends but they went a bit too far.

When you open an InPrivate window to check say your web based email, there's a good chance that you'll open one of those emails or internal links in another tab (that is the beauty of having tabs) however when you open the new tab... it strips every little bit of info about where you've been away - including the session information that confirmed you were a valid, logged in user!

So all of a sudden on the new tab - you are no longer logged in! In fact if you go back to the first tab and try to click a link or refresh - you're logged out there too!

We're sure they plan to fix this before the final IE8 RTM release... we'll keep you posted with updates when we see that this is fixed.

Example:

1.) Go to about:tabs in IE8 RC1
2.) Click the link to open an InPrivate browsing session
3.) Go to Gmail or a similar online web site that requires you to log in
4.) Browse around, all is well
5.) Now open some links in new tabs (middle-click the links)
6.) Are you still logged in? or did you get dropped?
7.) After being dropped out of your session, go back to the first tab and browse around
8.) Now you are dropped out of your session in all tabs - woops!

Known Workarounds: None.

Related Issues: None.


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bug 519 - IE8 InPrivate/Windows Media Player Fail - OS integration issues

Issue: #519
Affects: IE8 (IE6, IE7 also fail the basic privacy issue disclosed below)

So, you think that IE8's InPrivate will cover your tracks when you surf... *cough*, *cough* questionable video content on the Internet?

Think again! do you remember a battle between the D.O.J. (Department Of Justice) and Microsoft over Internet Explorer being "part" of the Operating System and therefore they couldn't remove it to make a even playing field for other Web Browsers?

Well IE is tied to the OS... even if you aren't using IE! because the IE "favorites" and "history" are tied to the OS (not just IE).

So if you went and downloaded/watched some videos in say... Firefox... that opened up in Windows Media Player.

Then in Firefox you clicked the "Clear Private Data" link to remove all traces in Firefox.

Now open IE... and view IE8's History... what on earth?! the videos you watched from Firefox/Windows Media Player now show up in your IE History!

So who gets credit for the bug? Is it Firefox? likely not because it erased all data it stored. So its between Windows Media Player and IE8. In Windows Media Player's options... Privacy Tab... the History checkbox is unchecked - therefore requesting that URL/file history NOT be saved.

So where is the bug? Is Windows Media Player storing history when you told it not to? or is Internet Explorer tracking its own copy of your OS history without consent? or is Windows itself somehow to blame?

Either way Microsoft has a bug to fix. No history means No history.

It should be noted that surfing in IE8's InPrivate, downloading videos, and closing the InPrivate session does seem to clear the history.

Note: This bug was discovered on Windows XP SP3, IE8 RC1 and Windows Media Player 10. (it may not occur in other setups)
Update: This bug affects all versions of IE and Windows (Windows7/IE8 combo not tested yet - please send in a comment if you can confirm that this bug still exists/does not still exist in Windows 7)

Known Workarounds: None.

Related Issues: None.


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