Local Safari history

[hotwater2011]

I'm concerned my son is watching porno and visiting sites he shouldn't. The mac is setup with my iCloud account but iCloud syncing isn't turned on.
Does Safari keep a local file of all the history and websites visited? Even those in Private mode?

 

[Weaselboy]

There is a History selection in the Safari menu bar that will show you history. But history is not saved with private mode.

 

[bogdanw]

You can block adult content by setting the DNS servers to Cloudflare's 1.1.1.3 & 1.0.0.3

Introducing 1.1.1.1 for Families

Introducing 1.1.1.1 for Families — the easiest way to add a layer of protection to your home network and protect it from malware and adult content. 1.1.1.1 for Families leverages Cloudflare's global network to ensure that it is fast and secure around the world.

blog.cloudflare.com

 

[hotwater2011]

And there are no extensions like in Chrome (link real time sync, History trends & off the record)?
These can run in Incognito mode but will open any tabs in another chrome browser logged into my account too but creates a local history file on both machines.

 

[960design]

I'm concerned my son is watching porno and visiting sites he shouldn't. The mac is setup with my iCloud account but iCloud syncing isn't turned on.
Does Safari keep a local file of all the history and websites visited? Even those in Private mode?

Soap Box:
I'm against filtering. Most of us looked at porno[sic] while we sons and daughters, don't expect your children to be any different. I recommend sitting down and speaking with your son and explain your concerns and reasons why you feel he should not watch porn.

Answer:

1. You can filter a Mac:
   1. Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy = ON > Web Content > Limit Adult Websites ( this will turn off Private mode and prevent erasing history ).
   2. Check Option and enable Share Across Devices and Use a Screen Time Passcode ( he will no longer be Admin of computer ).
2. Mobile Device Management ( probably more complex than you may be willing to learn )
3. Traffic Logging via Raspberry Pi ( what I use - this does not filter, just records all traffic. After I set it up, I showed my daughter what traffic can be seen ).

Good luck. He will just use the hotspot on his phone, cannot filter those ( the phone, yes, but not the hotspot ).
DNS filtering will be changed by son in less than one minute. Another DNS filter I'd recommend for honest people would be OpenDNS: https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/

 

[szw-mapple fan]

And there are no extensions like in Chrome (link real time sync, History trends & off the record)?
These can run in Incognito mode but will open any tabs in another chrome browser logged into my account too but creates a local history file on both machines.

The Chome extension can only run on Incognito mode if it's turned on in settings (also easily turned off). And I don't know of any Safari extension that does this. In any case, none of these methods are fool proof for someone who is determined. Like the comment before mine, I recommend sitting down and speaking with your son rather than trying to block sites.