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How to configure a proxy server on a mac.

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When you configure a proxy server on your Mac, applications will send their network traffic through the proxy server before going to their destination. This may be required by your employer to bypass a firewall, or you may want to use a proxy to bypass geoblocking and access websites that aren't available in your country.

Related: How to Configure a Proxy Server in Firefox

The proxy server you set here will be used by Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and other applications that respect your system proxy settings. Some applications, including Mozilla Firefox, can have their own custom proxy settings independent from your system settings.

Open the System Preferences application by clicking on it in your Dock, or going to the Apple menu > System Preferences. Click the "Network" icon.

Select the network connection you use in the list. For example, if you want to configure the proxies used while connected to Wi-Fi networks, select "Wi-Fi". If you want to configure the proxies used while connected to wired networks, click "Ethernet".

Click the "Advanced" button at the bottom right corner of the Network window.

Select the "Proxies" tab. You'll need to configure a proxy by enabling one or more of the protocol checkboxes here.

To have your Mac detect whether a proxy is necessary and automatically configure the proxy settings, enable the "Auto Proxy Discover" checkbox. Your Mac will use the Web Proxy Auto Discover protocol, or WPAD, to automatically detect whether a proxy is necessary. This setting may be used on business or school networks, for example.

Even after enabling this option, your Mac will only use a proxy if one is detected using WPAD. If you never want your Mac to use a proxy, even if one is detected with WPAD, leave this box unchecked.

To use an automatic proxy configuration script, also known as a .PAC file, enable the "Automatic Proxy Configuration" checkbox. Enter the address of the script in the URL box. Your network administrator or proxy provider will provide you with the address to the proxy configuration script, if you need one.

If you don't need to use an automatic proxy configuration script to configure your proxy settings, leave this box unchecked.

To manually configure a proxy, you'll need to enable one or more of the "Web Proxy (HTTP)", "Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS)", "FTP Proxy", "SOCKS Proxy", "Streaming Proxy (RTSP)", and "Gopher Proxy" checkboxes. Enter the address and port number of the proxy for each option you enable. If you were provided with a username and password for the proxy server, enable the "Proxy server requires password" option and enter the username and password.

For example, let's say you want to configure a proxy that's used for HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP connections. You'd check the "Web Proxy (HTTP)", "Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS)", and "FTP Proxy" boxes. After checking each, you'd enter the address and port of the proxy server into the right pane. If you want to use the same proxy server for all three, you'd enter the same address three times. if you were provided with different proxy server addresses for different protocols, you'd enter different proxy server addresses for these connections.

If you don't want to manually configure a proxy, ensure all these boxes are unchecked.

The remaining settings allow you to bypass the proxy server when connecting to specific addresses and domains you configure.

The "Exclude simple hostnames" checkbox allows you to bypass the proxy for all "simple hostnames". These are often used on local networks and intranets. For example, a network might have a local website at "portal" or a local file server at "fileserver". In other words, users may have to plug "http://portal/" or "https://fileserver/" into their address bar to access these systems. This type of hostname only works on a local network. By checking this box, you can bypass the proxy for all simple hostnames on networks you connect to.

The "Bypass proxy settings for these Hosts & Domains" box contains a list of host names, domain names, and IP address ranges that won't be accessed through the proxy. For example, it contains "*.local" by default. The "*" here is a wildcard and matches anything. This means anything that ends in .local, including server.local, database.local, and anything.local, will be accessed directly without going through the proxy.

To add your own domain names and addresses, just separate each with a comma and a space. For example, to tell your Mac to access howtogeek.com without going through the proxy, you'd change the line to:

*.local, 192.254/16, howtogeek.com

If you have issues connecting to FTP servers after configuring an FTP proxy, ensure the "Use Passive FTP Mode (PASV)" option is enabled at the bottom of the window here. It's enabled by default.

Click "OK" to save your settings when you're done. Click "Apply" at the bottom right corner of the Network settings screen and your changes will take effect.

If there's a problem with the proxy server settings---for example, if the proxy server goes down or if you entered the details incorrectly---you'll see a network error message when using applications like Safari and Google Chrome. For example, Safari will say it can't find the server you're trying to access, while Chrome will display a more descriptive "ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED" error message. You'll need to fix your proxy server settings to continue.

• How to use proxies with safari

How to use proxies with Safari

It's pretty straightforward how to configure Safari proxies! so here's a quick guide to show you exactly what you need to to configure Safari proxies in no time.

by Carl Gamutan

Publishing Date: January 20, 2022

Safari is Apple’s default browser that was specifically designed to run on Apple devices. Thus, out of all the web browsers, it offers the best performance when used by any IOS device. To help create the best experience for its users, Safari is packed with an assortment of features from power efficiency to high-quality video streaming. However, one of its best features would still be its privacy and security protection.

Built with state-of-the-art privacy protection technology, Safari was designed with its users' privacy and security in mind. It has Intelligent Tracking Prevention, that identifies trackers and prevents them from profiling or following you across the web. Safari notifies you if you enter any suspicious website. It also detects password breaches and automatically informs you if one did occur. However, this doesn’t mean that it’s unbreakable. You are still vulnerable, especially if you frequent public places and connect to their wi-fi. It’s useful to have a VPN or a proxy server running on your device every time you connect to any public wi-fi network.

It’s pretty straightforward how to configure Safari proxies. It automatically uses your MacOS’s proxy settings so you don’t have to do any other proxy configuration for Safari. You can also use a free proxy for Safari but it’s not recommended to do that, as you won’t have access to the really good stuff proxies can provide! Safari also uses the HTTPS protocol so it’s recommended that you use an HTTPS or HTTP proxy. You can still use the other proxies like a socks proxy .

This guide will be a complete showing of what you have to do to configure Safari proxies.

Here are the steps:

• Go to Mac Os proxy settings through Safari
• Select which proxy IP protocol you want to configure
• Input the necessary information for your chosen protocol
• Click “OK” to save!

Configuring Your Proxy Settings Through MacOs's Safari

Step 1. Open Safari and on the drop-down menu select Preferences

Step 2. Go to the Advanced tab

This will now redirect you to your device's proxies tab. Then, you simply:

• Select which proxy IP protocol you want to configure. This depends on which protocols your proxy service provider offers.
• Turn on Secure Web Proxy
• Input the Proxy Server IP Address and Port Number
• Click OK and then Apply to save the configurations

Note: Your network administrator should tell you the type of proxy server to specify, the IP address or host name, and a port number.

Note: You may be prompted for your Mac user password to save your settings.

Congratulations! You have now set up a proxy server in the Safari browser. Do note that the first time you visit a website after setting up a proxy server, a prompt will pop-up asking for your login credentials from your proxy account.

How do I use proxy on iPhone's Safari?

To set up a proxy server for Safari simply configure your iPhone's proxy settings. It would then automatically apply to all the web browsers you will use. This is also applicable for iPad! Here's a more thorough guide for changing Safari proxy settings on iPhone.

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Guide to Setting a Proxy in Safari on macOS

Proxy servers are great if you want to hide your real IP address, enhance your web browsing security, and access geo-restricted sites.

Depending on your macOS version, the visual process to configure proxies might differ, but the main steps are interchangeable.

In this Safari proxy server integration guide, we’ll show you how to access proxy settings and disable a proxy server. We’ll also share a couple of common reasons your Safari browser might have trouble connecting to a proxy server.

Launching the proxy settings

1. Open Safari and go to Safari > Preferences .

Selecting preferences

2. Select the Advanced tab, and within the Proxies section, click Change Settings .

Changing proxy settings

In the newly opened window, you can configure proxies. However, the setup will be system-wide, which means that any other browser and application you use will be connected to the internet through the proxy server . Please refer to our macOS proxy integration guide for further steps.

How to turn off a proxy in Safari

1. Navigate to the proxy configuration window to change the settings, as shown in the above guide.

2. Open the Proxies tab and uncheck any checkbox. Then click OK in the lower right corner.

Unchecking the checkboxes

3. In the Network window, click Apply , and then you can close the settings entirely. 

Why Safari can't connect to a proxy server

Most commonly, the reason is that the proxy server settings were set up incorrectly. Follow our macOS proxy integration guide to configure Oxylabs proxies properly.

Another reason could be that, coincidentally, you have lost the internet connection. Disable the proxy to eliminate it as a cause, and check your Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection.

If you still can’t connect your proxy, don’t hesitate to contact us via live chat or send us an email .

Wrapping up

As mentioned previously, the Safari browser doesn’t support proxies. You have to configure the proxy on your Mac operating system to be able to use it with Safari. Although this is less than ideal, other solutions are available to enjoy the benefits of proxy servers, specifically on your chosen application. Check out our integrations page to find out more.

If you have any questions or need immediate assistance, please feel free to get in touch with us.

Please be aware that this is a third-party tool not owned or controlled by Oxylabs. Each third-party provider is responsible for its own software and services. Consequently, Oxylabs will have no liability or responsibility to you regarding those services. Please carefully review the third party's policies and practices and/or conduct due diligence before accessing or using third-party services.

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Configure proxy servers in Safari on macOS

Getting Started with Proxy Settings

Once you've finalized the required settings, remember to click the "OK" button to save your configurations.

By adhering to these straightforward instructions, you can initiate the utilization of proxy servers in Safari, ensuring a secure and swift browsing encounter.

Disabling the Proxy Server in Safari

To adjust your settings, follow these straightforward steps:

• Access the proxy server settings window, as demonstrated in the aforementioned guide.

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Reasons for Using a Proxy Server in Safari

There are a lot of reasons for using it. Among them:

• Some service limited access for you by your IP-address.
• Site limited access for your country or region. Today the majority of countries create sites only for their residents but these web-sources are useful for all Internet-users. In this case proxy is the best solution for getting access for these sources.
• Commercial activity in social media. This kind of activity requires using several accounts concurrently. For avoiding ban of profiles, users utilize for each account its own proxy server, therefore masking that they use multi account.
• It is not a secret that private proxy servers make better quality of Internet-connection and of web-pages feedback. Proxy has capacity for Internet data compression, therefore pages are showed faster and speed of the feedback is increasing.

Among these, an individual proxy server enables you to be anonymous on the Internet, so it safes your data from black hats.

How to Set Up a Proxy Server in Safari

It is easy to configure an IP-address in this browser. Mac OS is famous for having all instruments for comfortable users’ working and doesn’t require downloading of additional software.

After finishing setting up a proxy server in Safari, all above-mentioned problems will disappear and will not create discomfort of using the Internet. So do the next steps:

• Start the browser and go to settings by choosing “Preferences”.

• Click the “Advanced” tab.

• Click “Change Settings…” near the “Proxies” tab.

• Choose the type of a proxy: HTTP, HTTPS, SOCK and etc. If you have a link that connects you with IP-address automatically, choose “Automatic Proxy Configuration”.

• Write an IP-address and a port. Then tick the box “Proxy server requires password” and write the login and the pass of your address.
• Click on the lock icon in the button to change proxy settings.
• Click “OK”.

If you want to limit work of a proxy for certain sites, write it in the special field below:

How to Change Current Proxy settings in Safari

There are situations when a user has to change his proxy settings. For example, he wants to add the list of IP-addresses which will not be covered by the work. In this case you should repeat all steps in our instruction and make the necessary amendments. If the browser doesn't enable to change settings, restart Safari. If the problem is not solved, restart your device.

In several cases your device can require from you the login and the pass of your Account. Write them.

For successful configuring proxy in Safari on Mac OS you need to do a minimum set of action. In exchange, you get anonymity and change the GEOlocation of your device. You should buy a quality proxy server and do steps in our instruction.

You can buy private proxies on our site. Also you can turn to our support which is 24/7 online. We will help you to solve problems related to IP-address' work. We also will answer all your questions!

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Going On Safari (Exploring How To Use Apple Safari Proxies)

You’re alone, deep in the African savanna, bushwhacking across the sun-baked plains of golden grasses and thorny acacia trees—the arid heat naught but a subtle annoyance to your enthusiasm, the winds of adventure firmly at your back. It is here, in the heart of this sun-scorched wilderness that you are searching for the epitome of nature at odds with itself. The cunning predator versus its ever-elusive prey. The raw illustration of life and death poignantly locked in a struggle for supremacy. Read more about safari proxy

A dangerous journey? Sure. But you’ve always preferred living on the wild side. Survival of the fittest, right? Unfortunately, you stick out like a giraffe without a tree to hide behind and before long, those same wild predators you expected to see ambushing some poor animal from behind your camera lens have you surrounded. Game over. You’ve been eaten.

Table of Contents

• 1. What Is a Safari Proxy?
• 2. Types of Proxy for Safari
• 3. Nothing But the Best Apple Safari Proxies
• 4. How to Set Safari Proxy Settings
• 5. How to Use a Safari Proxy for Best Results

What does this have to do with Safari proxies? Well, just as you would’ve remained hidden on the African grasslands and avoided death by lions if you’d just set out some remote trail cameras, when searching online, a Safari proxy will likewise keep you hidden from preying eyes of the internet. If you’ve been wondering about what a Safari proxy is, what Safari proxy settings should be, and how to use a Safari proxy to get the most out of it, then this is the blog for you. Like any great Safari guide referencing their trusted field book, you can use our handy table of contents to brush up on whatever topic you want. Otherwise, gear up and let’s get this adventure started.

What Is a Safari Proxy?

With any outing into the wild, it’s vital that you know exactly what you need to bring along. That might include a water canteen, sunblock, compass and map, satellite phone, bug spray–you know, the bare essentials necessary to have a great experience. When browsing online, understanding your web proxies is just as important.

A proxy, in its most general function, is a network device which creates a barrier between you and the online worlds you explore. These devices act as intermediary “computers” which, by substituting your computer’s IP address for its own, can therefore make web requests on your behalf without the servers you’re requesting resources from identifying you directly. This added layer of request processing not only keeps your identity a secret, but also protects you from the prying eyes of hackers and spammers that would gladly steal your valuable personal information. In some cases, using a proxy also allows you to access content that is restricted based upon your location by creating the appearance that your requests are coming from an unrestricted network or country.

Safari proxies, similar to Chrome proxies and Firefox proxies , are simply proxies specially designed to operate in conjunction with their namesake web browser. The beauty of a dedicated web browser proxy is that you retain all the performance benefits while being able to effortlessly enjoy your favorite web browser wherever you want. Whether sitting at your desktop computer or surfing the web on your mobile device, you can browse like never before.

Types of Proxy for Safari

Let’s talk about options. Believe it or not, you have a few for when picking out which proxy you want to install on Safari. After all, you want the best one suited for your specific needs. When deciding on which Safari proxy to get, there are three main types from which to choose: semi-dedicated, dedicated, and rotating.

First up, semi-dedicated proxies. Semi-dedicated proxies are neither fully dedicated, nor are they completely open. This is to say, unlike dedicated proxies—where you alone control all the resources—and public proxies—which anyone can access—semi-dedicated proxies have you share your proxy with at least two other people. Although cheaper than dedicated options, semi-dedicated proxies are more vulnerable to poor performance and IP bans since you can’t control the activities of the other users.

Dedicated proxies, on the other hand, don’t have this problem. You’re the King of the Beasts here. You control every bit of the speed and bandwidth and have sole ownership of the proxy IP. That means you alone control your destiny online and can utilize every resource when and as you need.

Finally, rotating proxies. Like their name suggests, rotating proxies rotate IP addresses each time you make an online connection by accessing a website. By constantly switching IPs, this type of proxy provides an even tougher challenge for websites, online criminals, and anyone else wanting to identify you from actually doing so. This added layer of anonymous browsing capability is great for when you want to scrape data off competitor web pages, cop some new sneakers, or simply avoid those annoying targeted ads.

An important thing to remember—never use public proxies. If you thought the African savanna was scary, these free proxies are even more dangerous. Not only are public proxies typically slow and rife with technical issues, they are also ideal hunting grounds for hackers, identity thieves, scam artists, and other criminally minded predators. Though the temptation to save a few dollars is strong, it isn’t worth the inherent risks. Instead, stick to purchasing your proxies from a trusted provider.

Nothing But the Best Apple Safari Proxies

Now that you understand a bit about the ins and outs of Apple Safari proxies, we have no doubt you cannot wait to get your online excursion under way.

So, here’s the sales pitch. We at Rayobyte truly believe that we offer the best proxies for Safari (or any other web browser) out there. Our high-quality proxy packages feature 1 Gbps speeds on fully dedicated lines with unlimited threads and bandwidth allowances. Not to mention they are extremely affordable.

And because nothing is worse than having the unexpected happen at the most inopportune time, we won’t leave you lost without an idea of what to do. We have a tireless team of experts dedicated to resolving any issues you might encounter no matter the hour of the day or night they might arise. Safari proxies will open a whole new world to you. We’re here to ensure you can discover it as only you know how with the best dedicated proxies as part of your explorer’s pack.

How to Set Safari Proxy Settings

When it comes to the setup of your Apple Safari proxies on your browser, installing a Safari proxy is super simple. Trust us, we aren’t lion.

Since Safari is an exclusive web browser for Apple devices, you’ll want to first check that you are using such a device. To try and do so on another operating platform or piece of tech just won’t happen. If you are wondering how to set up browser proxies for different browsers , check out our dedicated blog on the subject! Below we’ve outlined the step-by-step process of adding a proxy in Safari.

How to set up a proxy for Safari macOS

Configuring a proxy for Safari on Mac devices takes only a few quick, easy steps. To begin setup, launch the Safari browser and open the “Safari” menu. Click “Preferences” and then the “Advanced” tab at the top of the window. Click the “Change Settings” button next to the “Proxies” entry. You’ll then select the type of proxy server you wish to configure in the left pane and enter proxy details. If for example you want to set up a Safari HTTP proxy connection, you would select “Web Proxy (HTTP).”

If your proxy requires you to log in, check the “Proxy server requires password” option and enter the login information in the provided boxes. Repeat for each proxy server you wish to configure. Finally, click “Apply Now” button in the lower right corner of the window to save settings.

How to set up a proxy for Safari iPhone (iPad/iPod)

To config your proxy in Safari on a mobile device , first open your “Settings” app on your iPhone , iPad, or iPod. Go to “Wi-Fi” and, if not already, connect to your desired Wi-Fi network. Once connected, click on the “info” icon ( (i) ). Scroll to and tap on “Configure Proxy,” followed by selecting “Manual.” Toggle “Authentication” on and enter your proxy username and password. Hit save and you’re all set to browse with a mobile Safari proxy.

Following these steps will guarantee your Safari proxy is correctly configured each and every time. However, just in case you do encounter some unexpected issue during install, Apple support should provide you the answers you need.

Now, just because you successfully set up one proxy doesn’t mean you’ll never need to make any changes. You may find that one Safari proxy isn’t enough to satisfy your thirst for unbridled—yet incredible safe—online adventuring and decide to rotate between a handful of dedicated proxies. If that’s the case and you’re wondering how to change Safari proxy settings, the good news is you already have the answer here before you. Simply revisit these setup tutorials and enter your new proxy info appropriately and you’ll stay browsing wild and free. You won’t even need a tour guide.

How to Use a Safari Proxy for Best Results

One of the best features about web browser proxies is that, once installed, you can sort of forget they’re even there—which his kind of the point if you’re all about unobtrusive computer add-ons. This is true for Safari proxies as well. Operating quietly in the background of your Safari browser, your proxies will handle all the nitty gritty work like strengthening your security, promoting anonymous browsing, and getting access to the sites ordinarily off limits to you. This way you can rest easy and continue exploring the internet like you always have.

Not that you want to adopt an entirely hands-off attitude toward your proxies; actively managing your proxy settings is the only way to get the most out of your proxies and the best chance for you to enjoy a truly great online experience. Having the tools and know-how to mobilize your Safari proxies at a moment’s notice simply means these changes and alterations are much easier to implement effectively no matter the occasion.

You may want to take your browsing capabilities even further by adding a Safari proxy extension. These browser extensions give you even greater, specialized power to capitalize on online activities. Some of the most popular are SEO tools for improving your content’s Google search rankings and data scrapers for cataloging and analyzing elephants’ worth of invaluable data from the sites you use. However, there are countless extensions for just about anything you want to do online.

Go wild and explore what’s out there. You may discover something you never thought you needed becomes something you can never live without again. Just be sure your proxy is up to the challenge of handling what you intend. Bogging down your awesome Safari proxy with too many extensions or failing to properly configure it to optimize its performance settings is a surefire recipe for finding yourself too far off in the weeds.

Finishing the Safari Proxy Tour

As we’ve shown, you don’t need to fly have way across the world to experience extraordinary sights. Instead, you can have the freedom and security to explore the entire web without fear of falling victim to unsuspecting online predators who’d gladly take advantage of knowing exactly who you are, where you are, and what you are doing. Though a Safari proxy doesn’t mean you won’t have to take some responsibility for your online activity, it does make enjoying your favorite sites that much simpler. And who knows, following these guidelines may just wind up convincing you that using proxies for Safari is just as exotic and exciting as a real African Safari—or at the very least, a heck of a lot safer.

The information contained within this article, including information posted by official staff, guest-submitted material, message board postings, or other third-party material is presented solely for the purposes of education and furtherance of the knowledge of the reader.

All trademarks used in this publication are hereby acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.

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Home » Tech Tips » Browsers » How to Setup Proxy in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, IE and Safari Browsers?

How to Setup Proxy in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, IE and Safari Browsers?

On one hand, people fight for open internet, however on other hand there are good reasons for blocking the access. Many schools, educational institutions and organizations block access to specific websites that shows explicit and vulgar content. Unfortunately, it does not stop there; they also block social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In such case, for good reasons you can use VPN or proxy for unblocking the sites anonymously.     

In our earlier article, we have explained how to connect VPN in Windows 10 . We highly recommend using reliable VPNs like ExpressVPN to browse safely and securely. However, you may need premium account for using the reliable VPNs with no logging and secured connection. This may not be possible for those who simply wanted to unblock social sites. In addition, your school or organization may also restrict adding VPN profiles and block VPN server’s IP addresses.

In all such cases, the workable and alternate solution is to go for a proxy.

What is Proxy?

Proxy works similar to VPN to bypass the internet connection through different servers. The advantage of proxy is that you can configure script URL or server IP/port in computer’s settings instead of using a separate app or profile. If one proxy is not working, you can try hundreds of free and premium proxies available on the web.

Related: How to setup Google Public DNS in Windows?

How to Setup Proxy in Your Browser?

Depending on the browser you use, there are two ways to setup proxy. Google Chrome, Edge and Internet Explorer uses the default Windows proxy settings. This means all your network activities will be routed through proxy server. If you do not want to do this, choose Mozilla Firefox to configure at browser level. This will only route the network from Firefox to go through proxy and all other network will go through default route.

Changing Proxy in Google Chrome

• On Google Chrome, go to “chrome://settings” URL .
• Scroll to bottom and click on the “Advanced” option.
• Again scroll to bottom and click on “Open proxy settings” under “System” section.

Change Proxy in Microsoft Edge

• On Microsoft Edge , click on the three dots settings button on top right corner.
• Scroll down and click on the “Settings” option.
• Look for “Advanced Settings” section and click on the “View advanced settings button”.
• Click on “Open proxy settings” button under “Proxy setup” section.

Change Proxy in Internet Explorer

• If you still use Internet Explorer, click on the gear icon nearer to the top right corner.
• Select “Internet Options” and go to “Connection” tab on the pop-up.

Setup Proxy in Firefox

• Go to “about:preferences” URL in Firefox address bar and scroll down to the “Network Settings” option under “General” tab.
• Click on the “Settings…” button that shows against the “Network Settings”.
• Unlike other browsers, Firefox offers built-in proxy settings. Auto-detect and system proxy settings will use the proxy from “Internet Options” settings.
• If you have a manual configuration URL enable the option “Manual proxy configuration” and type the HTTP / SSL / FTP / SOCKS proxy with the relevant port number.
• Enable “Automatic proxy configuration URL” option to enter the configuration script that works for all protocols. You can also provide exceptions in the “No proxy for” text box.
• As mentioned, the configuration URL settings will only work inside Firefox browser. This is an ideal option when you can install Firefox on your computer. Because you can use Firefox for unblocking websites and use Edge or Chrome for using school or organization’s network.

Setup Proxy Servers in Windows 10

As you can see, Windows 10 allows changing the proxy in two places. One in Internet Options pop-up that opens from IE and Chrome. Other is in Settings app that opens through Edge browser. However, changing the proxy in one place will automatically change in other place also.

Change Proxy in Internet Options

When you are in “Internet Option” dialog, go to “Connections” tab. Click on the “LAN settings” button.

Follow the below steps to properly setup proxy:

• Disable “Automatically detect settings” checkbox.
• If you have proxy script URL, enter it in the address text box after enabling “Use automatic configuration script” option.
• If you have a proxy server IP and port then enable “Use proxy server for your LAN” checkbox and enter the server IP / port. You can exclude the local addresses like intranet URLs to skip proxy and use default network settings. Enable the “Bypass proxy server for local addresses” option and click on “Advanced” button. Type the local addresses in the exceptions.    

Change Proxy in Windows Settings App

When you are in the Settings app (from Edge), you can see similar proxy options available under “Proxy” section. You can disable the automatically detect settings option and use script or manual proxy setup as explained above.

Change Proxy in macOS

You can access the network preferences in Mac using the following two ways.

Change Proxies from Safari Settings

Follow the below instructions from Safari :

• Open Safari and go to “Safari > Preferences…” menu.
• Go to “Advanced” tab and click on the “Change Settings…” button against “Proxies”.

• This will open the network settings, however it will be in non-editable mode. You need to go one step back and unlock for editing.

From macOS Preferences

Similar to Windows, you can also directly access the network preferences in Mac.

• Go to Apple menu and click on the “System Preferences…”. click on the “Network” option to open network preferences.
• On the pop-up, first click on the padlock icon, provide your administrator password to unlock the settings.

• Select your active wireless network from the list and click on the “Advanced…” button.
• Go to “Proxies” tab and enter the “Automatic Proxy Configuration” URL or enter manual proxy details under “Web Proxy (HTTP)”.

On Android and iOS mobile devices, you can go to wireless connection settings page and change the proxy server setup.

About Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WebNots are team of experts who love to build websites, find tech hacks and share the learning with community.

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How to Set a Proxy Server in Safari

Step 1: setup proxy server in internet safari.

Follow these instructions to configure the Safari browser to use a Proxy Server:

Open Safari.

Click on the "Safari" menu at the top of the screen.

Click on the "Preferences..." menu item.

Click on the "Advanced" tab of the menu bar.

Under "Proxies:", click on the "Change Settings..." button.

Place a check in the "Web Proxy (HTTP)" checkbox.

In the Address field, enter the IP Address of your Proxy Server and the Proxy Server Port Number in the Port field. You will receive the IP Address and Port Number of your Proxy Server(s) in a separate email.

Click the "Apply Now" button.

Now when you surf the web, you will be surfing by using the Proxy Server. The first time you surf, depending on your account's authentication settings, you may be asked to enter your credentials, which were supplied in your Welcome Email.

To stop using the Proxy Server, repeat the above steps, but uncheck the box that says "Web Proxy (HTTP)" in the "Change Settings..." section.

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Set SOCKS proxy for Safari

Is it possible to specify the SOCKS proxy for Safari in OS X Lion?

I've got an address and port number I have to fill in there but I can't find the settings in the browser...

3 Answers 3

No. It is only possible to set the system-wide proxy for a specific connection in System Preferences » Network » (select a connection) » Advanced… » Proxies .

Which is where you are sent when you access Safari » Preferences… » Advanced » Proxies .

• this is stupid, since in firefox I can do this without problem. what I wanted to say is if using safari can be hacked for this purpose –  Open the way Commented Nov 1, 2011 at 19:07
• 1 @flow Firefox is a cross-platform program and probably not even capable of using the system-wide proxy. As should be obvious from the integration of the Network preference pane into Safari's own options, there just is no separate proxy configuration for Safari. –  Daniel Beck ♦ Commented Nov 1, 2011 at 19:29
• SOCKS proxies are commonly used to provide different proxies for different processes. It's clearly a flaw in Mac OS X if you cannot easily do this. –  Jeff Burdges Commented Apr 4, 2012 at 17:26
• 1 @flow How is this stupid? What use case do you have to configure Safari separately? In fact I find this greatly convenient. Any application that uses the system network settings, will be able to use any proxy you set. And you can configure multiple network profiles with different proxies and switch between them easily, instead of configuring each application (which could be 5 or 10), each time you switch connections (which could be at least twice per day, eg between work, home, school). –  Jason S Commented Feb 12, 2014 at 19:20
• @JasonS Use case for being able to set Safari proxy alone: Safari for video (i.e. US NetFlix, etc.) as its video processing is efficient, but Chrome is my regular main browser (no need to appear from US) with its much better cross-browser sharing of bookmarks/passwords/history/tabs across devices. Sending traffic to route through (paid) proxy when not needed seems wasteful, slower and inefficient. –  Baker Commented Oct 23, 2015 at 11:41

Try networksetup -setwebproxy

usage : networksetup -setwebproxy "Your service name" domain port authentication(on/off) username password

networksetup -setwebproxy "Wi-Fi" localhost 8000 off

The protocol defaults to http, you would have to specify socks:// Username and password only need to be set if your authentication is on.

There's also MacProxy to get system-wide network proxy support!

• 2 Can you maybe elaborate a bit on how it works? –  slhck Commented Nov 3, 2011 at 11:55

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Safari Proxy 101: How to Set Up Proxy in Safari for macOS

Discover how to configure proxies to Safari and Surf the Internet anonymously. Come in now and get informed.

Unlike in the past, when the Safari browser is available on the Windows platform, Safari is not a Mac thing. Arguably, it is one of the world's best browsers in terms of security, user experience, and speed. But how do you configure it to make use of proxies? that’s one thing many people find difficult. This article will show you how to surf the Internet anonymously using Safari by setting proxies.

• How to Use Proxies to Surf Tor Anonymously

After configuring proxies on your Safari browser, your IP Address is hidden, and all requests to send to websites go through the proxy server with your IP Address hidden, and a different one showed. With this, you enjoy a lot of freedom and unblock traffic limitations while accessing restricted web content.

Proxies for Safari

The Safari browser does not select proxies; you can configure it to work with both free proxies as well as paid. The browser is compatible with both HTTPS and SOCKS5 proxies.

• What is an HTTP Proxy?
• What is a Socks Proxy?

It also works with both datacenter and residential proxies . what am I trying to say? Safari does not choose proxies; you will have to choose, based on your use case the website you want to use them on.

On a general note, Luminati regarded as the best proxy provider in the market of its wide location coverage and number of proxies in its pool. It provides all the different types of proxies – datacenter, residential, and mobile. However, most people shy away from them because their pricing is expensive. For alternatives, go for MyPrivateProxy if you want to use datacenter proxies or Smartproxy if you want residential proxies.

Step by Step Tutorial for Proxy Setting on Safari

With the steps below, you can get your Safari browser to work with proxies.

• Click on ‘Safari’ at the menu and then click on ‘Preferences’ from the dropdown.

• Make sure you have the ‘Advanced’ section focused by clicking the ‘Advanced’ tab.

• Lookout for proxies and click the ‘Change Settings’ button

• A popup will appear – fill in the required information and click the ‘OK’ button.

• Click on ‘Apply’ on the next page, and your proxy has been set.

A Word about Authentication

Authentication is very simple on Safari. The first time you try to access any website after configuring the proxies, a window will appear, request you to authenticate using username and password. Fill in your username and password, and if OK, your access to the Internet is granted without using IP Address.

You will agree with me from the above steps that proxy settings on Safari are not difficult. With just a few click and button presses, you are on your way to using proxies on Safari. Happy surfing the Internet using proxies on Safari.

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Using proxies on iPad safari

iPad, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on May 2, 2010 12:17 PM

Posted on May 2, 2010 1:52 PM

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May 2, 2010 1:52 PM in response to katefu

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Safari User Guide

• Get started
• Go to a website
• Bookmark web pages to revisit
• See your favourite websites
• Use tabs for web pages
• Import bookmarks and passwords
• Pay with Apple Pay
• Autofill credit card info
• View links from friends
• Keep a Reading List
• Hide ads when reading
• Translate a web page
• Download items from the web
• Add passes to Wallet
• Save part or all of a web page
• Print or create a PDF of a web page
• Interact with text in a picture
• Change your home page
• Customise a start page
• Create a profile
• Block pop-ups
• Make Safari your default web browser
• Hide your email address
• Manage cookies
• Clear your browsing history
• Browse privately
• Prevent cross-site tracking
• See who tried to track you
• Change Safari settings
• Keyboard and other shortcuts

Set up a proxy server using Safari on Mac

Your network administrator may ask you to specify a proxy server to access the Internet if your Mac connects to it through a firewall. Your administrator should tell you the type of proxy server to specify, the IP address or host name, and a port number.

Open Safari for me

Click Change Settings (next to Proxies) to open Network settings.

Change the proxy settings using the information your network administrator provided.

Private Browsing 2.0

Jul 16, 2024

by John Wilander , Charlie Wolfe, Matthew Finkel, Wenson Hsieh, and Keith Holleman

When we invented Private Browsing back in 2005, our aim was to provide users with an easy way to keep their browsing private from anyone who shared the same device. We created a mode where users do not leave any local, persistent traces of their browsing. Eventually all other browsers shipped the same feature. At times, this is called “ephemeral browsing.”

We baked in cross-site tracking prevention in all Safari browsing through our cookie policy, starting with Safari 1.0 in 2003. And we’ve increased privacy protections incrementally over the last 20 years. (Learn more by reading Tracking Prevention in Webkit .) Other popular browsers have not been as quick to follow our lead in tracking prevention but there is progress.

Apple believes that users should not be tracked across the web without their knowledge or their consent. Entering Private Browsing is a strong signal that the user wants the best possible protection against privacy invasions, while still being able to enjoy and utilize the web. Staying with the 2005 definition of private mode as only being ephemeral, such as Chrome’s Incognito Mode , simply doesn’t cut it anymore. Users expect and deserve more.

So, we decided to take Private Browsing further and add even more protection beyond the normal Safari experience. Last September, we added a whole new level of privacy protections to Private Browsing in Safari 17.0. And we enhanced it even further in Safari 17.2 and Safari 17.5. Plus, when a user enables them, all of the new safeguards are available in regular Safari browsing too.

With this work we’ve enhanced web privacy immensely and hope to set a new industry standard for what Private Browsing should be.

Enhanced Private Browsing in a Nutshell

These are the protections and defenses added to Private Browsing in Safari 17.0:

Link Tracking Protection

• Blocking network loads of known trackers, including CNAME-cloaked known trackers

Advanced Fingerprinting Protection

• Extensions with website or history access are off by default

In addition, we added these protections and defenses in all browsing modes:

• Capped lifetime of cookies set in responses from cloaked third-party IP addresses
• Partitioned SessionStorage
• Partitioned blob URLs (starting in Safari 17.2)

We also expanded Web AdAttributionKit (formerly Private Click Measurement) as a replacement for tracking parameters in URL to help developers understand the performance of their marketing campaigns even under Private Browsing.

However, before we dive into these new and enhanced privacy protections, let’s first consider an important aspect of these changes: website compatibility risk.

The Risk of Breaking Websites and How We Mitigate It

There are many ideas for how to protect privacy on the web, but unfortunately many of them may break the user’s experience. Like security protections in real life, a balance must be struck. The new Private Browsing goes right up to the line, attempting to never break websites. But of course there is a risk that some parts of some sites won’t work. To solve this, we give users affordances to reduce privacy protections on a per-site basis. Such a change in privacy protections is only remembered while browsing within a site. This option is a last resort when a web page is not usable due to the privacy protections.

All of the new privacy protections in Private Browsing are also available in regular browsing. On iOS, iPadOS and visionOS go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection and enable “All Browsing”. On macOS go to Safari > Settings > Advanced and enable “Use advanced tracking and fingerprinting protection”:

Let’s now walk through how these enhancements work.

Safari’s Private Browsing implements two new protections against tracking information in the destination URL when the user navigates between different websites. The specific parts of the URL covered are query parameters and the fragment. The goal of these protections is to make it more difficult for third-party scripts running on the destination site to correlate user activity across websites by reading the URL.

Let’s consider an example where the user clicks a link on clickSource.example , which takes them to clickDestination.example. The URL looks like this:

Safari removes a subset of query parameters that have been identified as being used for pervasive cross-site tracking granular to users or clicks. This is done prior to navigation, such that these values are never propagated over the network. If known_tracking_param above represents such a query parameter, the URL that’s used for navigation will be:

As its name suggests, the campaign above represents a parameter that’s only used for campaign attribution, as opposed to click or user-level tracking. Safari allows such parameters to pass through.

Finally, on the destination site after a cross-site navigation, all third-party scripts that attempt to read the full URL (e.g. using location.search , location.href , or document.URL ) will get a version of the URL that has no query parameters or fragment. In our example, this script-exposed value is simply:

In a similar vein, Safari also hides cross-site any document.referrer from script access in Private Browsing.

Web AdAttributionKit in Private Browsing

Web AdAttributionKit (formerly Private Click Measurement) is a way for advertisers, websites, and apps to implement ad attribution and click measurement in a privacy-preserving way. You can read more about it here . Alongside the new suite of enhanced privacy protections in Private Browsing, Safari also brings a version of Web AdAttributionKit to Private Browsing. This allows click measurement and attribution to continue working in a privacy-preserving manner.

Web AdAttributionKit in Private Browsing works the same way as it does in normal browsing, but with some limits:

• Attribution is scoped to individual Private Browsing tabs, and transfers attribution across new tabs opened when clicking on links. However, attribution is not preserved through other indirect means of navigation: for instance, copying a link and pasting in a new tab. In effect, this behaves similarly to how Web AdAttributionKit works for Direct Response Advertising .
• Since Private Browsing doesn’t persist any data, pending attribution requests are discarded when the tab is closed.

Blocking Network Loads of Known Trackers

Safari 17.0 also comes with an automatically enabled content blocker in Private Browsing, which blocks network loads to known trackers. While Intelligent Tracking Prevention has long blocked all third party cookies, blocking trackers’ network requests from leaving the user’s device in the first place ensures that no personal information or tracking parameters are exfiltrated through the URL itself.

This automatically enabled content blocker is compiled using data from DuckDuckGo and from the EasyPrivacy filtering rules from EasyList. The requests flagged by this content blocker are only entries that are flagged as trackers by both DuckDuckGo and EasyPrivacy. In doing so, Safari intentionally allows most ads to continue loading even in Private Browsing.

Private Browsing also blocks cloaked network requests to known tracking domains. They otherwise have the ability to save third party cookies in a first-party context. This protection requires macOS Sonoma or iOS 17. By cloaked we mean subdomains mapped to a third-party server via CNAME cloaking or third-party IP address cloaking. See also the “Defending Against Cloaked First Party IP Addresses” section below.

When Safari blocks a network request to a known tracker, a console message of this form is logged, and can be viewed using Web Inspector:

Network Privacy Enhancements

Safari 15.0 started hiding IP addresses from known trackers by default. Private Browsing in Safari 17.0 adds the following protections for all users:

• Encrypted DNS . DNS queries are used to resolve server hostnames into IP addresses, which is a necessary function of accessing the internet. However, DNS is traditionally unencrypted, and allows network operators to track user activity or redirect users to other servers. Private Browsing uses Oblivious DNS over HTTPS by default, which encrypts and proxies DNS queries to protect the privacy and integrity of these lookups.
• Proxying unencrypted HTTP . Any unencrypted HTTP resources loaded in Private Browsing will use the same multi-hop proxy network used to hide IP addresses from trackers. This ensures that attackers in the local network cannot see or modify the content of Private Browsing traffic.

Additionally, for iCloud+ subscribers who have iCloud Private Relay turned on, Private Browsing takes privacy to the next level with these enhancements:

• Separate sessions per tab . Every tab that the user opens in Private Browsing now uses a separate session to the iCloud Private Relay proxies. This means that web servers won’t be able to tell if two tabs originated on the same device. Each session is assigned egress IP addresses independently. Note that this doesn’t apply to parent-child windows that need a programmatic relationship, such as popups and their openers.
• Geolocation privacy by default . Private Browsing uses an IP location based on your country and time zone, not a more specific location.
• Warnings before revealing IP address . When accessing a server that is not accessible on the public internet, such as a local network server or an internal corporate server, Safari cannot use iCloud Private Relay. In Private Browsing, Safari now displays a warning requesting that the user consents to revealing their IP address to the server before loading the page.

Extensions in Private Browsing

Safari 17.0 also boosts the privacy of Extensions in Private Browsing. Extensions that can access website data and browsing history are now off by default in Private Browsing. Users can still choose to allow an extension to run in Private Browsing and gain all of the extension’s utility. Extensions that don’t access webpage contents or browsing history, like Content Blockers, are turned on by default in Private Browsing when turned on in Safari.

With Safari and subsequently other browsers restricting stateful tracking (e.g. cross-site cookies), many trackers have turned to stateless tracking, often referred to as fingerprinting .

Types of Fingerprinting

We distinguish these types of fingerprinting:

• Device fingerprinting . This is about building a fingerprint based on device characteristics, including hardware and the current operating system and browser. It can also include connected peripherals if they are allowed to be detected. Such a fingerprint cannot be changed by the user through settings or web extensions.
• Network and geographic position fingerprinting . This is about building a fingerprint based on how the device connects to the Internet and any means of detecting its geographic position. It could be done by measuring roundtrip speeds of network requests or simply using the IP address as an identifier.
• User settings fingerprinting . This is about reading the state of user settings such as dark/light mode, locale, font size adjustments, and window size on platforms where the user can change it. It also includes detecting web extensions and accessibility tools. We find this kind of fingerprinting to be extra hurtful since it exploits how users customize their web experience to fit their needs.
• User behavior fingerprinting . This is about detecting recurring patterns in how the user behaves. It could be how the mouse pointer is used, how quickly they type in form fields, or how they scroll.
• User traits fingerprinting . This is about figuring out things about the user, such as their interests, age, health status, financial status, and educational background. Those gleaned traits can contribute to a unique ID but also can be used directly to target them with certain content, adjust prices, or tailor messages.

Fingerprint Stability

A challenge for any tracker trying to create a fingerprint is how stable the fingerprint will be over time. Software version fingerprinting changes with software updates, web extension fingerprinting changes with extension updates and enablement/disablement, user settings change when the user wants, multiple users of the same device means behavior fingerprints change, and roaming devices may change network and geographic position a lot.

Fingerprinting Privacy Problem 1: Cross-Site Tracking

Fingerprints can be used to track the user across websites. If successful, it defeats tracking preventions such as storage partitioning and link decoration filtering.

There are two types of solutions to this problem:

• Make the fingerprint be shared among many users, so called herd immunity.
• Make the fingerprint unique per website, typically achieved via randomized noise injection.

Fingerprinting Privacy Problem 2: Per-Site User Recall

Less talked about is the fingerprinting problem of per-site user recall. Web browsers offer at least two ways for the user to reset their relationship with a website: Clear website data or use Private Browsing. Both make a subsequent navigation to a website start out fresh.

But fingerprinting defeats this and allows a website to remember the user even though they’ve opted to clear website data or use Private Browsing.

• Make the fingerprint unique per website, and generate a new unique fingerprint for every fresh start.

Fingerprinting Privacy Problem 3: Per-Site Visitor Uniqueness

The ultimate anti fingerprinting challenge in our view is to address a specific user’s uniqueness when visiting a specific website. Here’s a simple example:

Having the locale setting to US/EN for American English may provide ample herd immunity in many cases. But what happens when a user with that setting visits an Icelandic government website or a Korean reading club website? They may find themselves in a very small “herd” on that particular website and combined with just a few more fingerprinting touch points they can be uniquely identified.

Addressing per-site visitor uniqueness is not possible in general by a browser unless it knows what the spread of visitors looks like for individual websites.

Fingerprinting Protections at a High Level

We view cross-site tracking and per-site user recall as privacy problems to be addressed by browsers.

Our approach : Make the fingerprint unique per website, and generate a new unique fingerprint for every fresh start such as at website data removal.

Our tools :

• Use multi-hop proxies to hide IP addresses and defend against network and geographic position fingerprinting.
• Limit the number of fingerprintable web APIs whenever possible. This could mean altering the APIs, gating them behind user permissions, or not implementing them.
• Inject small amounts of noise in return values of fingerprintable web APIs.

Fingerprinting Protection Details

Safari’s new advanced fingerprinting protections make it difficult for scripts to reliably extract high-entropy data through the use of several web APIs:

• To make it more difficult to reliably extract details about the user’s configuration, Safari injects noise into various APIs: namely, during 2D canvas and WebGL readback, and when reading AudioBuffer samples using WebAudio.
• To reduce the overall entropy exposed through other APIs, Safari also overrides the results of certain web APIs related to window or screen metrics to fixed values, such that fingerprinting scripts that call into these APIs for users with different screen or window configurations will get the same results, even if the users’ underlying configurations are different.

2D Canvas and WebGL

Many modern web browsers use a computer’s graphics processing unit (GPU) to accelerate rendering graphics. The Web’s Canvas API (2D Canvas) and WebGL API give a web page the tools it needs for rendering arbitrary images and complex scenes using the GPU, and analyzing the result. These APIs are valuable for the web platform, but they allow the web page to learn unique details about the underlying hardware without asking for consent. With Safari’s advanced fingerprinting protections enabled, Safari applies tiny amounts of noise to pixels on the canvas that have been painted using drawing commands. These modifications reduce the value of a fingerprint when using these APIs without significantly impacting the rendered graphics.

It’s important to emphasize that:

• This noise injection only happens in regions of the canvas where drawing occurs.
• The amount of noise injected is extremely small, and (mostly) should not result in observable differences or artifacts.

This strategy helps mitigate many of the compatibility issues that arise from this kind of noise injection, while still maintaining robust fingerprinting mitigations.

In Safari 17.5, we’ve bolstered these protections by additionally injecting noise when reading back data from offscreen canvas in both service workers and shared workers.

Similarly, when reading samples using the WebAudio API — via AudioBuffer.getChannelData() — a tiny amount of noise is applied to each sample to make it very difficult to reliably measure OS differences. In practice, these differences are already extremely minor. Typically due to slight differences in the order of operations when applying FFT or IFFT. As such, a relatively low amount of noise can make it substantially more difficult to obtain a stable fingerprint.

In Safari 17.5, we made audio noise injection more robust in the following ways:

• The injected noise now applies consistently to the same values in a given audio buffer — this means a looping AudioSourceNode that contains a single high-entropy sample can’t be used to average out the injected noise and obtain the original value quickly.
• Instead of using a uniform distribution for the injected noise, we now use normally-distributed noise. The mean of this distribution converges much more slowly on the original value, when compared to the average of the minimum and maximum value in the case of uniformly-distributed noise.
• Rather than using a low, fixed amount of noise (0.1%), we’ve refactored the noise injection mechanism to support arbitrary levels of noise injection. This allows us to easily fine-tune noise injection, such that the magnitude of noise increases when using audio nodes that are known to reveal subtle OS or hardware differences through minute differences in sample values.

This noise injection also activates when using Audio Worklets (e.g. AudioWorkletNode ) to read back audio samples.

Screen/Window Metrics

Lastly, for various web APIs that currently directly expose window and screen-related metrics, Safari takes a different approach: instead of the noise-injection-based mitigations described above, entropy is reduced by fixing the results to either hard-coded values, or values that match other APIs.

• screen.width / screen.height : The screen size is fixed to the values of innerWidth and innerHeight .
• screenX / screenY : The screen position is fixed to (0, 0) .
• outerWidth / outerHeight : Like screen size, these values are fixed to innerWidth and innerHeight .

These mitigations also apply when using media queries to indirectly observe the screen size.

Don’t Add Fingerprintable APIs to the Web, Like The Topics API

We have worked for many years with the standards community on improving user privacy of the web platform. There are existing web APIs that are fingerprintable, such as Canvas, and reining in their fingerprintability is a long journey. Especially since we want to ensure existing websites can continue to work well.

It is key for the future privacy of the web to not compound the fingerprinting problem with new, fingerprintable APIs. There are cases where the tradeoff tells us that a rich web experience or enhanced accessibility motivates some level of fingerprintability. But in general, our position is that we should progress the web without increasing fingerprintability.

A recent example where we opposed a new proposal is the Topics API which is now shipping in the Chrome browser . We provided extensive critical feedback as part of the standards process and we’d like to highlight a few pieces here.

The Topics API in a Nutshell

From the proposal :

Any JavaScript can call this function on a webpage. Yes, that includes tracker scripts, advertising scripts, and data broker scripts.

The topics come from a predefined list of hundreds of topics. It’s not the user who picks from these topics, but instead Chrome will record the user’s browsing history over time and deduce interests from it. The user doesn’t get told upfront which topics Chrome has tagged them with or which topics it exposes to which parties. It all happens in the background and by default.

The intent of the API is to help advertisers target users with ads based on each user’s interests even though the current website does not necessarily imply that they have those interests.

The Fingerprinting Problem With the Topics API

A new research paper by Yohan Beugin and Patrick McDaniel from University of Wisconsin-Madison goes into detail on Chrome’s actual implementation of the Topics API.

The authors use large scale real user browsing data (voluntarily donated) to show both how the 5% noise supposed to provide plausible deniability for users can be defeated, and how the Topics API can be used to fingerprint and re-identify users.

“We conclude that an important part of the users from this real dataset are re-identified across websites through only the observations of their topics of interest in our experiment. Thus, the real users from our dataset can be fingerprinted through the Topics API. Moreover, as can be seen, the information leakage and so, privacy violation worsen over time as more users are uniquely re-identified.” —Beugin and McDaniel, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The paper was published at the 2024 IEEE Security and Privacy Workshops (SPW) in May.

Further Privacy Problems With the Topics API

Re-identifying and tracking users is not the only privacy problem with the Topics API. There is also the profiling of users’ cross-site activity. Here’s an example using topics on Chrome’s predefined list .

Imagine in May 2024 you go to news.example where you are a subscriber and have provided your email address. Embedded on the website, dataBroker.example . The data broker has gleaned your email address from the login form and calls the Topics API to learn that you currently have these interests:

• Event & Studio Photography
• Luxury Travel

In May 2026 you go to news.example where dataBroker.example calls the Topics API and is told that you now have these interests:

• Children’s Clothing
• Family Travel

Finally, in May 2029 you go to news.example where dataBroker.example calls the Topics API and is told that you have these interests:

• Legal Services
• Furnished Rentals

You haven’t told any website with access to your email address anything that’s been going on in your family life. But the data broker has been able to read your shifting interests and store them in their permanent profile of you — while you were reading the news.

Now imagine what advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence can deduce about you based on various combinations of interest signals. What patterns will emerge when data brokers and trackers can compare and contrast across large portions of the population? Remember that they can combine the output of the Topics API with any other data points they have available, and it’s the analysis of all of it together that feeds the algorithms that try to draw conclusions about you.

We think the web should not expose such information across websites and we don’t think the browser, i.e. the user agent , should facilitate any such data collection or use.

Privacy Enhancements in Both Browsing Modes

Our defenses against cloaked third-party IP addresses and our partitioning of SessionStorage and blob URLs are enabled by default in both regular browsing and Private Browsing. Here’s how those protections work.

Defending Against Cloaked First Party IP Addresses

In 2020, Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) gained the ability to cap the expiry of cookies set in third-party CNAME-cloaked HTTP responses to 7 days .

This defense did not mitigate cases where IP aliasing is used to cloak third party requests under first party subdomains. ITP now also applies a 7-day cap to the expiry of cookies in responses from cloaked third-party IP addresses. Detection of third-party IP addresses is heuristic, and may change in the future. Currently, two IP addresses are considered different parties if any of the following criteria are met:

• One IP address is IPv4, while the other is IPv6.
• If both addresses are IPv4, the length of the common subnet mask is less than 16 bits (half of the full address length).
• If both addresses are IPv6, the length of the common subnet mask is less than 64 bits (also half of the full address length).

Partitioned SessionStorage and Blob URLs

Websites have many options for how they store information over longer time periods. Session Storage is a storage area in Safari that is scoped to the current tab. When a tab in Safari is closed, all of the session storage associated with it is destroyed. Beginning in Safari 16.1 cross-site Session Storage is partitioned by first-party web site.

Similarly, Blobs are a storage type that allow websites to store raw, file-like data in the browser. A blob can hold almost anything, from simple text to something larger and more complex like a video file. A unique URL can be created for a blob , and that URL can be used to gain access to the associated blob, as long as the blob still exists. These URLs are often referred to as Blob URLs, and a Blob URL’s lifetime is scoped to the document that creates it. Beginning in Safari 17.2, cross-site Blob URLs are partitioned by first-party web site, and first-party Blob URLs are not usable by third parties.

Setting a New Industry Standard

The additional privacy protections of Private Browsing in Safari 17.0, Safari 17.2 and Safari 17.5 set a new bar for user protection. We’re excited for all Safari users and the web itself to benefit from this work!

We love hearing from you! To share your thoughts on Private Browsing 2.0, find John Wilander on Mastodon at @[email protected] or send a reply on X to @webkit . You can also follow WebKit on LinkedIn . If you run into any issues, we welcome your feedback on Safari UI (learn more about filing Feedback ), or your WebKit bug report about web technologies or Web Inspector.