Hi all -- 

Question for you:  A colleague noticed in an Internet cafe (in a repressive 
country) that in FireFox and Chrome the browser history reveals the subject 
line of gmail. The history also reveals the name of the person a user 
Facebook-messaged and profile pages visited.  The same was not true for Yahoo 
or hotmail. 

See below for a sample screenshot that illustrates what I am talking about 
(using the latest version of FF on Mac OS)  It seems to be a function of 
gmail/FB not the browser (same happens in Chrome and Safari, did not try for 
IE).  As I said, Yahoo mail and Hotmail do not reveal the subject line in the 
history as far as we could see.

So - is this and oversight or deliberate on the part of Gmail/F? 

It seems potentially rather problematic since most users do not delete their 
history nor use any private browsing features or software when in an internet 
cafe.  We looked at detailed name/subject line/FB social grapsh in the browser 
history of machines in the cafe for at least eight months back). With this 
information it is very easy to see an individual's activity without any other 
digital logs installed.  

Curious about this from a technical POV and whether it can be fixed by 
Gmail/Facebook.  We can involve the right people there; after understanding 
this better. 

In the meantime, this definitely should be covered in any trainings (that is - 
do not use a a sensitive or revealing subject line, delete your history, browse 
in private mode, etc) 

Thanks for any insights.

Best,

Katrin 



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