Category Archives: privacy

Restrictions on File Urls

Last Update: October 1, 2025 For security reasons, Microsoft Edge 76+ and Chrome impose a number of restrictions on file:// URLs, including forbidding navigation to file:// URLs from non-file:// URLs. If a browser user clicks on a file:// link on an https-delivered webpage or PDF, nothing visibly happens. If you open the Developer Tools console on the webpage,Continue reading “Restrictions on File Urls”

Same-Site Cookies By Default

The Chrome team is embarking on a clever and bold plan to change the recipe for cookies. It’s one of the most consequential changes to the web platform in almost a decade, but with any luck, users won’t notice anything has changed. But if you’re a web developer, you should start testing your sites andContinue reading “Same-Site Cookies By Default”

Challenges with Federated Identity in modern browsers

Many websites offer a “Log in” capability where they don’t manage the user’s account; instead, they offer visitors the ability to “Login with <identity provider>.” When the user clicks the Login button on the original relying party (RP) website, they are navigated to a login page at the identity provider (IP) (e.g. login.microsoft.com) and then redirectedContinue reading “Challenges with Federated Identity in modern browsers”

Surprise: Undead Session Cookies

I’ve been working on browsers professionally for 12 of the last 15 years, and in related areas for 20 of the last 20, and over the years I’ve discovered enough surprises in browser behavior that they’re no longer very surprising. Back in April, I wrote up a quick post explaining how easy it is toContinue reading “Surprise: Undead Session Cookies”

Private Browsing Mode

Note: This blog post was originally written before the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge was announced. As a consequence, it includes discussion of the behavior of the Legacy Microsoft Edge browser. The new Chromium-based Edge behaves largely the same way as Google Chrome. Last Update: 13 June 2025 InPrivate Mode was introduced in Internet Explorer 8Continue reading “Private Browsing Mode”