Safari's Dangerous Defaults
While Safari is generally considered a secure option for browsing the web, there are some default settings that users should be aware of; especially those which may compromise your privacy and security.
In Safari, the “Search engine suggestions” feature is designed to provide autocomplete suggestions when you start typing a web URL into the Safari address bar.
However, incomplete web address text is sent to Google servers to generate these search suggestions. Therefore any manually typed addresses, and much of your browsing behaviour, is transmitted to Google. Additionally any misspelt URLs you enter into the Safari address bar automatically triggers a redirect to a Google search page, allowing further profiling of your web browsing behaviour.
The data sent to Google includes your IP address, browser type and version, language preferences, and the query text itself. Google uses this data to generate search suggestions, create user profiles and improve its search engine results.
