[tor-bugs] #31132 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Cookies or site data was set even though I had the block cookies and site data option selected

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#31132: Cookies or site data was set even though I had the block cookies and site
data option selected
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 Reporter:  cypherpunks        |          Owner:  tbb-team
     Type:  defect             |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium             |      Component:  Applications/Tor Browser
  Version:  Tor: unspecified   |       Severity:  Normal
 Keywords:  cookies site data  |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                     |         Points:
 Reviewer:                     |        Sponsor:
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 I have been experimenting with Tor to see if it suits my goals and for
 fun.

 TorBrowser is often blocked by Google and directed to the robot check
 page.  I started playing with it to see how to get around the constant
 requests to fill out long captchas and found that cookies or site data is
 used so people who change IP addresses still get confronted with the same
 captcha screen.  I then chose the block cookies and site data in the
 Options>>Privacy and Security screen.  This temporarily worked but made it
 so I couldn't set the page to english.(There may be a workaround in the
 address bar to set it to english as I remember doing that years ago but it
 wasn't important enough to me to look up again at that point.)  This
 wasn't a problem for me so I kept experimenting with it in that fashion.

 After I restarted tor a few times over a day or two, Google went back to
 its old behavior of confronting me with a captcha when I was exploring
 Tor. The "block cookies and site data" option was still selected.  The
 "Manage Data" screen showed no cookies or site data had been saved.

 However, I chose "clear data" and told it to delete the cookies and site
 data anyway.  Afterward, Google went back to being in a foreign language
 and it stopped confronting me with the captcha again.

 Somehow Google was able to set and read cookies or site data without it
 being registered with the manage data box and while "block cookies and
 site data" was set.  It was however able to be cleared like it was.

 I am also using firefox at the same time as tor.  I know it is possible to
 correlate data between firefox and tor externally if the searches are
 similar to deanonymize people but I am just experimenting with it for now
 and am not concerned with anonymity for my current usage.

 Either TorBrowser read firefox data or TorBrowser allowed data to be set
 when "block cookies and site data" was selected.

 In "about:tor", TorBrowser also frequently pops up with a red screen that
 reads "tor is not working" and I have to restart it to get the purple
 "Explore. Privately." screen indicating Tor is working properly.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/31132>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online