geismeister
Where would I look to see the "local storage" you mention?
In 10.6.8 the folder is in Users / User Name / Library / Safari / LocalStorage (Each user has her or his own) After resetting Safari and clearing the history & cache, more often than not many files remain behind. I don't know if those are what are called "ever cookies" or something else entirely. Even if you set Safari to Private Browsing" files will appear there and stay behind. (At least in Safari 5.1.0)
It Is NOT a 100% Guaranty-
Clear Safari history and cache. Choose to Reset Safari (if your version still has it). Manually empty the Local Storage & empty the trash. Re-Open Safari with a blank page (mine is set to open blank in Preferences) & don't go to any sites. Look in Local Storage. Some of the files you just deleted are back. Crazy ain't it?
Easy Access-
I put a link in the Finder sidebar to get to the folder easily. Then, I'll use Command-A to select all the files and then Command-Delete to send the files to the trash. There is a database file in there. I remove that one too. If a site that has my "money stuff", such as my bank, leaves a file in Local Storage I will then empty the trash.
El Capitan-
In 10.11.4, I don't remember if I found where Safari keeps local storage. I apologize that the computer with 10.11.4 is not here right now so I can't check to see if I found it or where it is.
I haven't used Safari much in 10.11 yet because I'm still learning 10.11 and clinging to 10.6.8 for work stuff until I'm comfortable enough with 10.11 to update totally. (I'm a really slow learner)
In 10.11.4 there is a folder in Users / User Name / Library / WebKit / com.Apple.Safari / LocalStorage and there are a few other LocalStorage folders for items like Finder. I don't know what these are for, so I won't mess with them until I learn more.
These May Help-
An application called "Easy Find" will locate all the localstorage folders for you, even if they are hidden. And, Onyx has a tab for Internet cache cleaning. Both of those are very useful applications to me for many tasks. They are worth every penny of the donations.
I very much like the idea Randy posted about the Epic Privacy Browser. I plan to check it out when I can. It may be useful for on line banking & my work related account stuff.
Why my paranoia about files staying behind? I often have to take my computer to projects and it is subject to theft much more readily than if at home. So why chance leaving anything that could have "please break into my bank account" stuff behind? I have had my identity stolen thanks to a big box hardware store using unsecured wifi to transmit credit card purchases from the register to their local server. And it took several years to get back to only semi-normal, not to mention $$$ gone forever.
Other Browsers-
I never did figure out where Firefox or others keep their local storage files and if they actually get cleared when clearing cache & history.
I hope this helps you out. If you do figure out where Safari keeps local storage, please post back. It would be interesting to see if clearing history in Safari empties the local storage in Safari while using 10.11.
Take Time To Enjoy Today!
Paul
