#539 Erase Log File config option

[Paul S. Haring]

as a security feature, it would be nice to have an option that wipes the log file upon program exit, and/or start-up.
the log file has essentially a tracking record of your browsing, it would be nice to wipe that if the user is so inclined.

great program, keep up the great work!

-=Paul=-

[Fabian Keil]

Thanks for the suggestion, but secure file deletion is out of the scope of Privoxy.

It's also quite complex if you want it to actually work, not just to feel good. Quoting FreeBSD's manual page for rm (which has a -P option to "overwrite" files):

BUGS
The -P option assumes that the underlying storage overwrites file blocks
when data is written to an existing offset. Several factors including
the file system and its backing store could defeat this assumption. This
includes, but is not limited to file systems that use a Copy-On-Write
strategy (e.g. ZFS or UFS when snapshots are being used), Flash media
that are using a wear leveling algorithm, or when the backing datastore
does journaling, etc. In addition, only regular files are overwritten,
other types of files are not.

I think a more sensible approach to the problem would be to store the
log file on an encrypted file system (which can be automatically created
and destroyed whenever you feel like it).

[Paul S. Haring]

I understand, but I didn't mean to imply forensic quality erasure, just "spousal". But the point is taken...

[SourceForge Robot]

This Tracker item was closed automatically by the system. It was
previously set to a Pending status, and the original submitter
did not respond within 14 days (the time period specified by
the administrator of this Tracker).