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Not Private error

Seek assistance with all types of tech. - computer, phone, TV, heating controls etc.
csearle
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Not Private error

#429631

Postby csearle » July 22nd, 2021, 1:24 pm

Any ideas how I can get rid of this error message on my laptop computer* ? It also happens on other websites too, like https://www.theguardian.com/ but not on google.com ?

Thanks,
Chris

Image

* Win 7 / Chrome
Clock set correctly, caches cleared, antivirus off, all tried

Urbandreamer
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Re: Not Private error

#429643

Postby Urbandreamer » July 22nd, 2021, 1:55 pm

Odd that you are getting it and others are not.

That fact suggests that it's an issue with the google chrome cache.

Try a different web brouser (ie Edge or Internet explorer *). Try chrome in privacy mode. If they don't exhibit the problem then it's fairly certain to be the cache.
https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/neterr ... y-invalid/

*Windows still ships with IE, they just don't provide a link. I sometimes have to use it on Win 10 to cope with a badly coded website.

Mike4
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Re: Not Private error

#429647

Postby Mike4 » July 22nd, 2021, 2:11 pm

<rant>

I find this one of the most supremely unhelpful error messages ever. It gives you no clue as to how attackers 'might be' trying steal information, or what to do about it. Clicking on "Learn more" educates me no further.

For me, the fix always revolves around cookies. I dunno why the error message doesn't suggest clearing out cookies to start with at least.

</rant>

PhaseThree

Re: Not Private error

#429648

Postby PhaseThree » July 22nd, 2021, 2:16 pm

The SSL certificates are separately held on Windows machines, they are not in the browser caches.

Go to "Internet Options" in the control panel, under the "content" tab click "Clear SSL state"
See if that helps

(Note this is the story in W10, I think W7 uses the same system)

csearle
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Re: Not Private error

#429650

Postby csearle » July 22nd, 2021, 2:21 pm

Urbandreamer wrote:Odd that you are getting it and others are not.

That fact suggests that it's an issue with the google chrome cache.

Try a different web brouser (ie Edge or Internet explorer *). Try chrome in privacy mode. If they don't exhibit the problem then it's fairly certain to be the cache.
https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/neterr ... y-invalid/

*Windows still ships with IE, they just don't provide a link. I sometimes have to use it on Win 10 to cope with a badly coded website.
Thank you.

I have started iexplorer and entering the URL https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/ elicits a Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage error message. It suggests an internet connectivity issue (even though I clearly have internet connectivity as I'm using the same laptop to post this [with the Not Secure warning visible].)

Interesting though when I click More information it provides this list...
This problem can be caused by a variety of issues, including:

•Internet connectivity has been lost.
•The website is temporarily unavailable.
•The Domain Name Server (DNS) is not reachable.
•The Domain Name Server (DNS) does not have a listing for the website's domain.
•There might be a typing error in the address.
•If this is an HTTPS (secure) address, click Tools, click Internet Options, click Advanced, and check to be sure the SSL and TLS protocols are enabled under the security section.

So I shall see if any of those help. I have already cleared all the caches (that I am aware of) in Chrome.

Chris

Breelander
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Re: Not Private error

#429651

Postby Breelander » July 22nd, 2021, 2:21 pm

csearle wrote:Any ideas how I can get rid of this error message on my laptop computer* ?
...Clock set correctly, caches cleared, antivirus off, all tried


Try Step 2 here...

Google Support wrote:Step 2: Open the page in Incognito mode (computer only)

Open the page you were visiting in an Incognito window.

If the page opens, a Chrome extension isn't working right. To fix the error, turn off the extension....
https://support.google.com/chrome/answe ... cate-error

Infrasonic
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Re: Not Private error

#429673

Postby Infrasonic » July 22nd, 2021, 3:15 pm

If none of the above suggestions work...

In Chrome got to settings/ privacy and security/ site settings / additional content settings / insecure content / allowed to show insecure content (add).
Add the TLF HTTPS URL and see if it makes any difference.

A quicker way to get there with existing bookmarks is to got to the padlock in the URL bar whilst on the relevant web page /site settings/ permissions (insecure content is near the bottom).

Obviously it isn't good idea generally to override something like insecure content blocking but it might provide you with a bit more A/B ammunition to workout why it's occurring in the first place. (I don't have your issue in Chrome browser on those sites across multiple OS' with a load of extensions active and insecure content is blocked by default.)

UncleEbenezer
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Re: Not Private error

#429685

Postby UncleEbenezer » July 22nd, 2021, 3:48 pm

Do you have the option of connecting through an entirely different network - e.g. hook it up via 4G? That could give some clue if the culprit is something your ISP is doing.

Especially if you've actively consented to be watched, for example by signing up for a so-called family-friendly service.

Infrasonic
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Re: Not Private error

#429703

Postby Infrasonic » July 22nd, 2021, 4:43 pm

If you want to try a different DNS provider in Chrome - Privacy and Security / security / Advanced /use secure DNS/ with*

Bear in mind though that different OS' / apps will override specified DNS under certain circumstances and if you are using an ISP supplied modem/router its default DNS will still be theirs. Depending on the ISP and router you might be able to change the DNS in advanced settings.
1.1.1.1 is Cloudflare
8.8.4.4. and 8.8.8.8 is Google
9.9.9.9 is Quad 9
More options here...https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/best-dns-server

Stompa
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Re: Not Private error

#429773

Postby Stompa » July 22nd, 2021, 9:59 pm

If it was a DNS issue, could it have been related to this?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57929544

If so, then presumably it will be working OK again now.

Watis
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Re: Not Private error

#429775

Postby Watis » July 22nd, 2021, 10:00 pm

There was an issue with a DNS service earlier today:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57929544

I don't know if this is relevant to your issue - I wasn't affected - but, if your issue has mysteriously resolved itself, it is quite possible.

HTH,

Watis

Mike4
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Re: Not Private error

#429813

Postby Mike4 » July 23rd, 2021, 4:41 am

Watis wrote:There was an issue with a DNS service earlier today:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57929544

I don't know if this is relevant to your issue - I wasn't affected - but, if your issue has mysteriously resolved itself, it is quite possible.

HTH,

Watis


I do find this perplexing. When I used to run my own web server I'm pretty sure I used to have secondary, and possibly tertiary DNS services nominated. Surely the fundamental design of the WWW is such that failure of a single DNS service should not bring down websites, but I know nothing about it nowadays, its got far too complicated!

Infrasonic
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Re: Not Private error

#429845

Postby Infrasonic » July 23rd, 2021, 8:43 am

Mike4 wrote:
Watis wrote:There was an issue with a DNS service earlier today:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57929544

I don't know if this is relevant to your issue - I wasn't affected - but, if your issue has mysteriously resolved itself, it is quite possible.

HTH,

Watis


I do find this perplexing. When I used to run my own web server I'm pretty sure I used to have secondary, and possibly tertiary DNS services nominated. Surely the fundamental design of the WWW is such that failure of a single DNS service should not bring down websites, but I know nothing about it nowadays, its got far too complicated!


Akamai are one of the major CDN's (along with Cloudflare). So if they have a DNS issue it means that their locally cached website 'mirrors' can no longer be served properly. All the major web players use CDN's, and if you have paid for web hosting it will get offered as inclusive/extra depending on your host/package tier.

In the OP's case it's possible that instead of being pointed at the 'secure' TLF https site by default the DNS is pointing to the old http - which could bring up the 'insecure content' alert in Chrome (I get that for http sites with no https option).
When there are updates or outages it sometimes takes a while for DNS caches to fill and propagate with up to date information. Flushing local DNS caches can speed the process up if that is the issue.

The fact that it seemed to be limited to the OP might indicate that it probably isn't anything to do with yesterdays DNS/CDN issues but is a local to that PC/OS/browser problem. Only by running a few A/B elimination tests can they be more certain though.

mc2fool
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Re: Not Private error

#429862

Postby mc2fool » July 23rd, 2021, 9:44 am

Infrasonic wrote:In the OP's case it's possible that instead of being pointed at the 'secure' TLF https site by default the DNS is pointing to the old http - which could bring up the 'insecure content' alert in Chrome (I get that for http sites with no https option).

No, that's not possible. http or https is a protocol choice handled by the site server, not an addressing one. There are no entries in a site's DNS record to distinguish the two.

Arborbridge
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Re: Not Private error

#429868

Postby Arborbridge » July 23rd, 2021, 9:59 am

Mike4 wrote:<rant>

I find this one of the most supremely unhelpful error messages ever. It gives you no clue as to how attackers 'might be' trying steal information, or what to do about it. Clicking on "Learn more" educates me no further.

For me, the fix always revolves around cookies. I dunno why the error message doesn't suggest clearing out cookies to start with at least.

</rant>


I'd be immediately suspicious of anything which asked me to click to learn more! Learn more or download more trouble?


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