Brave-browser: Shields settings is lost after clearing data and relaunching
Description
Shields settings is lost after clearing data and relaunching
Steps to Reproduce
- Visit brave.com and disable shields
- Visit github.com and change site shields settings from default to custom
- Clear browsing data from all time and select all checkboxes
- Restart browser after data is cleared
- Open brave.com, shields is auto enabled
- Open github.com, site shields settings are lost and reverted back to default settings
Actual result:
Shields settings is lost after clearing data and relaunching
Expected result:
Clear data shouldn't reset shields settings
Reproduces how often:
Easy
Brave version (brave://version info)
Brave | 0.56.15 Chromium: 70.0.3538.110 (Official Build) (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | ca97ba107095b2a88cf04f9135463301e685cbb0-refs/branch-heads/3538@{#1094}
OS | All
Reproducible on current release:
- Does it reproduce on brave-browser dev/beta builds?
Yes
Website problems only:
- Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields?
- Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome?
Additional Information
Issue reproduced by @kjozwiak on macOS and @GeetaSarvadnya on Windows
cc: @diracdeltas @tomlowenthal @bbondy this should probably be part of 0.58.x or any earlier hotfix
Designs
Add clear browsing data controls for Shields.
On the "Clear browsing data" panel, add a "Shields site-specific preferences" checkbox which is off by default on the "Advanced" and "On exit" tabs.
In the Shields section in Settings, add a row at the bottom to "Clear all site-specific Shields settings"
Clicking on it will trigger an alert dialogue. The user has to click "Reset Shields" to clear Shields site-specific preferences.
srirambv
All 31 comments
Shields are stored as content settings so I think this is expected? Maybe more desirable as a separate item to clear but probably not an urgent bug since it seems reasonable currently as far as I can tell.
bbondy
on 7 Dec 2018
yup, it was a separate clear item in b-l. i think it's more desirable to have shields be cleared with history than to have no way to clear shields at all
diracdeltas
on 7 Dec 2018
discussed in security confab; if a setting is added for this we think it should be in chrome://settings/clearBrowserData under the advanced panel
diracdeltas
on 18 Dec 2018
cc @mkarolin since you've been around that code.
bbondy
on 19 Dec 2018
+1 from community https://community.brave.com/t/settings-going-to-default/41261?u=eljuno
eljuno
on 30 Dec 2018
+1 from @xetorixik via #4263
srirambv
on 27 Apr 2019
@srirambv Thanks for the heads up…
As this bug is labeled in this topic as "not an urgent bug" in December 2018.
What is going to happen?
xetorixik
on 29 Apr 2019
@srirambv Thanks for the heads up…
As this bug is labeled in this topic as "not an urgent bug" in December 2018.
What is going to happen?
@xetorixik it's currently labelled as a P3 which means it will most likely get done once the P1 & P2 are completed. There's currently no timeline but it will definitely get fixed once the more important issues are addressed. If this receives more +1 from the community, we will reprioritize as needed.
kjozwiak
on 1 May 2019
@kjozwiak Thanks for the explanation.
Hopefully more +1 will be added by community members :)
xetorixik
on 4 May 2019
+1 from @BugReporter2 via #4495
srirambv
on 18 May 2019
+1s from Community https://community.brave.com/t/shields-reverts-fingerprinting-protection-settings-every-time-i-clear-my-browser-history/72740?u=eljuno
eljuno
on 28 Jul 2019
@tomlowenthal @srirambv Designs added.
karenkliu
on 30 Jul 2019
@srirambv There is some noise in your initial post, the actual bug here is that clearing Site Settings (or Content settings for that matter, see #6627) resets two global shield settings: Cookies and Device recognition are being reset to Only cross-site ... It should preserve these global settings, just like it properly does with the rest of global shield settings.
Aside from the bug above, I consider it normal that clearing Site Settings removes all site-specific shield settings. Expected behaviour IMHO.
@bbondy I don't understand the need for a dedicated checkbox.
computersaysyes
on 27 Oct 2019
bbondy
on 19 Dec 2019
Interesting use case from Twitter:
the reason i stopped using brave is because the "block all fingerprinting" option does not persist when you clear history, seriously, i manually clear history multiple times per day, it's a deal breaker
it has been reported on the forums numerous times by other users also.
I bumped this up to a P2 to see if we can get it prioritized
bbondy
on 19 Dec 2019
Even though this already looks like it's about to be covered I would still like to throw in my +1, thanks!
mayeaux
on 11 Feb 2020
yup, it was a separate clear item in b-l. i think it's more desirable to have shields be cleared with history than to have no way to clear shields at all
there was no "site settings" in b-l so this is the equivalent. Trying to separate site settings from shields settings is problematic both because they are all site settings as @bbondy said and also because there is overlap between chromium site settings and shield settings (javascript and cookies). I think the fundamental problem is just one of user confusion that can be fixed by renaming site settings -> shield settings. In my opinion this is going to be even more confusing because if users don't understand that shield settings are site settings then they're not going to understand what they're clearing in site settings if we separate them.
bridiver
on 12 Feb 2020
and just to be clear about user confusion, I understand these settings as well as anyone at Brave and I couldn't tell you what should be cleared in shield vs site settings if we split them up. I'm proposing "Shield and Site Settings" for the option text so it's clear to people that it's all site settings including shield settings. Since it isn't checked by default, they won't be deleted unless the user manually checks them.
bridiver
on 12 Feb 2020
👍
+1 from me
abh-oss01
on 19 Feb 2020
Verification passed on
Brave | 1.7.67 Chromium: 80.0.3987.149 (Official Build) beta (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 5f4eb224680e5d7dca88504586e9fd951840cac6-refs/branch-heads/3987_137@{#16}
OS | Windows 10 OS Version 1803 (Build 17134.1006)
- Verified the STR from the description
- Logged follow up issue https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/8813
Verification passed on
Brave | 1.7.70 Chromium: 80.0.3987.149 (Official Build) dev (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 5f4eb224680e5d7dca88504586e9fd951840cac6-refs/branch-heads/3987_137@{#16}
OS | Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
The setting mentioned in test plan https://github.com/brave/brave-core/pull/4361 is missing
Follow up issue: https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/8813
GeetaSarvadnya
on 23 Mar 2020
@btlechowski @GeetaSarvadnya I think this PR's description is outdated.
After the discussion, we don't want to separate shields settings from site settings.
Because of that reason, its name is changed to Site and Shields Settings from Site Settings.
So, I think https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/8813 is not an issue.
simonhong
on 24 Mar 2020
@simonhong what?!
This isn't going to be fixed?
Please untie the settings, they get cleared after auto clearing history+data.
If #2400 wasn't fixed, why was it closed?
abh-oss01
on 24 Mar 2020
Ah,, @abh-oss01 . you're right.
This issue should not be closed. re-opened.
simonhong
on 24 Mar 2020
@abh-oss01 2400 was fixed. Shield settings are site settings and we changed the wording to make this more clear. If you select all the checkboxes, your shields setting absolutely should be deleted just like all other sites settings. This is not a bug, this is the correct and expected behavior and the fix was to make sure people knew exactly what they were deleting. cc @bbondy
bridiver
on 24 Mar 2020
added closed/invalid because this is the expected and correct behavior. The label for the checkbox has been updated to make it clear to users that shield settings are part of site settings so they don't delete them accidentally.
bridiver
on 24 Mar 2020
@bridiver the whole issue was opened to get the settings separated/untied from site settings
how is this site settings anyway?
this must be separate...
pls make the global settings simpler to understand and implement, and, the current ("fixed") behaviour is no different than the previous one which was a bug.
abh-oss01
on 24 Mar 2020
@abh-oss01 the previous behavior was not a bug. These are all site settings and the label has been updated to make it clear that shields are part of site settings. Trying to split things up would make it even more confusing because nobody would know which checkbox (site settings vs shield settings) deleted which settings. For instance, where would JS settings go? On Chrome those are deleted as part of site settings, but in Brave they are one of the shield settings. You can also create site settings for cookies using either shields or chromium site settings. If I have cookie settings from both, will only some of my cookie settings be deleted with shield settings? The fact that we call some of the settings "shield settings" does not change the fact that all of them are in fact site settings. You are asking us to separate things in a way that @simonhong was not even sure how to implement because of things like JS and cookie settings. If Brave devs don't even know which settings should go with which checkbox, how are users supposed to know?
bridiver
on 24 Mar 2020
@abh-oss01 also what is the use case for deleting just some of your site settings, but not others? You want to delete your site location, camera, microphone, flash, images, sound, autoplay, notifications, etc... settings, but not your cookie, httpse, js and fingerprinting settings? And that's ignoring the fact that cookie and JS are listed as part of site settings in brave://settings/content
bridiver
on 24 Mar 2020
The bug here is that the checkbox was not labelled in a way that made it clear to users that shields settings are part of site settings. That has been corrected because we don't want people to unintentionally delete their settings.
bridiver
on 24 Mar 2020
@bridiver Yes, to achieve fine grain control over what gets deleted, we would've liked clearing cookies, site settings, and js leftovers, but not the shield settings.
That was the whole point of the issue.
abh-oss01
on 27 Mar 2020
@abh-oss01 your comment reinforces the fact that nobody would understand exactly what gets deleted for each option if we split it up. Also if you want fine grain control over site settings, it is already available in brave://settings/content. The only site settings that are not currently listed there are httpse and fingerprinting and @GeetaSarvadnya has opened a ticket for that https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/8840
bridiver
on 27 Mar 2020
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Most helpful comment
Shields are stored as content settings so I think this is expected? Maybe more desirable as a separate item to clear but probably not an urgent bug since it seems reasonable currently as far as I can tell.