Brave-browser: Clearing "History" doesn't remove "Top Sites" on the new tab page

[sayedarifuddin]

Version 1.9.72 Chromium: 81.0.4044.138 (Official Build) (64-bit)

[markwylde]

This is still not fixed in:
Version 1.10.93 Chromium: 83.0.4103.106 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Can we at least warn users we are not respecting their privacy until a fix can be put in, or ideally remove top sites until it can be implemented with the users privacy settings in mind?

[markwylde]

This might actually be fixed in the latest update. I've not managed to recreate this issue today on:
Version 1.10.97 Chromium: 83.0.4103.116 (Official Build) (64-bit)

[markwylde]

Nope, just happened again:

I can't find where that URL is stored however. It doesn't seem to be anywhere (in text) in:
/Users/mark/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware

[bsclifton]

cc: @rebron - we probably should make it visible on the Clear on exit modal which group clears top sites (or we could give it its own entry)

[markwylde]

@BrendanEich can we please, as a stop gap, warn people that wiping their history is not wiping everything?

[MuhAssar]

someone posted this issue on hacker news
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23746117

[RickyNotaro]

Someone posted on Hacker News that someone posted on the GitHub issue that someone posted the GitHub issue on Hacker News.

[simonhong]

NTP gets topsites data from browser's history and manages them(site url, favicon cache url and etc...) to its own place(localStorage) in here.
Because of this, NTP shows previous topsite tiles after clearing history. (But favicon is not visible because NTP uses cached in history.)
To clear topsites when history is cleared, its data in localStorage should be reset.
cc: @bsclifton @petemill

[simonhong]

I'm trying to fix this by clearing topsites data implicitely when user clears history. WDYT? @rebron @bsclifton

[bsclifton]

@simonhong that should work perfectly. We will allow those to be edited (we have an issue for it), but at the moment it's tied directly to history (only real action you can do is move, pin, and close)

Marked as P2 since there is a leak (localStorage)

[simonhong]

@bsclifton Ok. Working on it :)

[Joshfindit]

As a user, I’m now concerned that there are other places where urls and/or history are kept.

[bsclifton]

@Joshfindit top sites should be the only place where we stored URLs - which with localStorage it would be tied to the Brave extension's localStorage. Clearing cookies should be clearing it - but the problem is if you pick clear history, this should be wiped too

There aren't any other areas we're aware of- but might be good to do an audit
cc: @diracdeltas

[n-e-r-u]

Yes please fix this. My student seen the pornhub icon on top sites.

[n-e-r-u]

@n-e-r-u Why don't you at least use the Incognito mode?

It was just a joke. At least, i imagine people complaining about this issue because of porn website in top sites :D

[GeetaSarvadnya]

Verification passed on

Brave | 1.13.73 Chromium: 84.0.4147.125 (Official Build) dev (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | d0784639447f2e10d32ebaf9861092b20cfde286-refs/branch-heads/4147@{#1059}
OS | Windows 10 OS Version 1903 (Build 18362.1016)

• Reproduced the issue in 1.12.x
• Verified the test plan from https://github.com/brave/brave-core/pull/6047
• Verified on both clean and upgraded profile

Scenario 1:
NTP with some top sites

• Verified that the deleted site cnn.com from the brave://histrory is removed from NTP top sites list
  
• Verified that the deleted pinned site theverge.com from the brave://histrory is removed from NTP top sites list
  
  
• Verified that the top sites are removed from NTP's when whole history is removed from brave://history
  

Scenario 2: - launch profile with SR code

• Verified that the NTP's have SR images along with SR top sites pinned
  

• Verified that the history is empty in SR profile
  

---

Verification passed on

Brave | 1.13.77 Chromium: 85.0.4183.69 (Official Build) dev (64-bit)
-- | --
Revision | 4554ea1a1171bd8d06951a4b7d9336afe6c59967-refs/branch-heads/4183@{#1426}
OS | Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

• Reproduced the issue in 1.12.x
• Verified the test plan from https://github.com/brave/brave-core/pull/6047
• Verified on both clean and upgraded profile

Scenario 1:
4 sites:

Deleted cnn from history

Verified cnn.com top site is deleted too

• Verified that the deleted pinned site interia from the brave://histrory is removed from NTP top sites list
  
• Verified that the top sites are removed from NTP's when whole history is removed from brave://history
  

Scenario 2: - launch profile with SR code
SR is not supported on linux

---

Verified passed with

Brave   1.13.79 Chromium: 85.0.4183.69 (Official Build) dev (64-bit)
Revision    4554ea1a1171bd8d06951a4b7d9336afe6c59967-refs/branch-heads/4183@{#1426}
OS  macOS Version 10.14.6 (Build 18G3020)

Verified plan 1 from https://github.com/brave/brave-core/pull/6047

Step 2 - top site tiles populated:

Step 4 - after one site is removed from history, confirmed it is not shown in top site tiles any more:

Step 5 - pinned one top site tile:

Step 7 - after the pinned site is removed from history, confirmed it is not shown in top site tiles any more:

Step 8 - cleared history

Step 9 - confirmed all top site tiles are removed

Additionally:

• After completing plan 1 above, confirmed that top sites are able to be populated again (visited some previous and new sites).
• Confirmed if you have History set to clear "On Exit", the top site tiles are cleared when you relaunch.

Verified plan 2 from https://github.com/brave/brave-core/pull/6047

Confirmed SR install (used TECHNIK) top site tiles are populated without any history: