From eacf7ff79d24223f0dc1129734e0261b74b71a0d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Simon Tatham Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2024 08:50:11 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] privacy.but: document the Windows jump list. Jacob reminds me that that's another piece of saved data, less obvious than the ones I'd already documented. I'd actually forgotten myself _exactly_ which actions cause data to be added to the jump list. But it's easy to check. The only functions exported from jump-list.c are add_session_to_jumplist(), remove_session_from_jumplist() and clear_jumplist(); the only one of those that _records_ information (rather than removing it) is add_session_to_jumplist(); and that is called in exactly one place, namely at the end of load_session() in settings.c. --- doc/privacy.but | 28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+) diff --git a/doc/privacy.but b/doc/privacy.but index 7f8f4f17..ccd7049e 100644 --- a/doc/privacy.but +++ b/doc/privacy.but @@ -65,6 +65,34 @@ where you connected to, you should not make a saved session for that connection. Instead, re-enter the details by hand every time you do it. +\H{privacy-jumplist} Jump list + +On Windows, the operating system provides a feature called a \q{jump +list}. This is a menu that pops up from an application's icon in the +Windows taskbar, and the application can configure entries that appear +in it. Applications typically include menu items to re-launch recently +used documents or configurations. + +PuTTY updates its jump list whenever a saved session is loaded, either +to launch it immediately or to load it within the configuration dialog +box. So if you have a collection of saved sessions, the jump list will +contain a record of which ones you have recently used. + +An exception is that saved sessions are not included in the jump list +if they are not \q{launchable}, meaning that they actually specify a +host name or serial port to connect to. A non-launchable session can +specify all the other configuration details (such as fonts, window +size, keyboard setup, SSH features, etc), but leave out the hostname. + +If you want to avoid leaving any evidence of having made a particular +connection, then make the connection without creating a launchable +saved session for it: either make no saved session at all, or create a +non-launchable one which sets up every detail \e{except} the +destination host name. Then it won't appear in the jump list. + +(The saved session itself would also be evidence, of course, as +discussed in the previous section.) + \H{privacy-logfiles} Log files PuTTY can be configured to save a log file of your entire session to