Resolved Private Relay: Safari not hiding IP (on Sonoma?)

[mimemime]

Edit: Solved.
I suggest that people check their IP on Safari to see if Private Relay is really working for them.

Hi,

I was trying the Private Relay feature on macOS (M1 Macbook Air) after updating to Sonoma. I checked my IP online while using it: surprise, websites have access to my real IP!
I've never used it much on mac so I don't know if it is related to the update, it is the first time I've done the IP check.
I tried the two location settings for Private Relay, without any luck. The setting inside Safari "Hide IP address from trackers and websites" is on, am I missing something?
I also tried to completely uninstall the VPN (Mullvad) that was installed (not running) on my mac because I read there could conflicts, no luck too.
Also, the option to show my real IP does not appear in the per website settings (it should be there according to Apple help pages).

Do you have any idea of what's going on?
All the issues I found where about the websites not working, or about carriers not supporting the feature (mine does, the IP is well hidden on my iPhone on the same network).

Thank you

 

[Bigwaff]

I was trying the Private Relay feature on macOS (M1 Macbook Air) after updating to Sonoma. I checked my IP online while using it: surprise, websites have access to my real IP!

Private Relay doesn't change your IP address; it is not a VPN service per se. It encrypts and proxies your web site traffic to Apple who then acts as an anonymous intermediary, stripping identifiable information from the web site network traffic. Article is old when the service was in beta but information applies.

iCloud+ Private Relay FAQ: Everything you need to know

The new iOS privacy component is in beta, but you can still try it out.

www.macworld.com

 

[mimemime]

Private Relay doesn't change your IP address; it is not a VPN service per se. It encrypts and proxies your web site traffic to Apple who then acts as an anonymous intermediary, stripping identifiable information from the web site network traffic. Article is old when the service was in beta but information applies.

iCloud+ Private Relay FAQ: Everything you need to know

The new iOS privacy component is in beta, but you can still try it out.

www.macworld.com

Yes, it is not a VPN, but it does (and should) hide your IP from websites you visit via Safari.

 

[triptolemus]

Private Relay doesn't change your IP address;

100% false.

Protect your web browsing with iCloud Private Relay on iPhone

iCloud Private Relay on iPhone hides your IP address and web browsing activity from network providers and websites.

support.apple.com

 

[mimemime]

Ok, I finally found the answer on some reddit comment (thank you to the author!)
You have to reset your wifi settings by deleting the service (right click on "Wifi" in the Network panel in System Settings) and adding it again ("Add Service" via the three dots at the bottom of the same page).
I guess that if it happens on Ethernet, the same can be done with the Ethernet Service.

 

[Bigwaff]

100% false.

Maybe semantics here... Private Relay "prevents websites from seeing your IP address" because it obfuscates it within the web traffic proxied through Apple's servers. Private Relay does not literally change the IP address of your Mac (i.e. the internal LAN IP address your router provides) nor does it change the public IP address provided by your internet service provider (i.e. the WAN IP address of your router) as expected by @mimemime . Private Relay doesn't effect all traffic (as a VPN service would), in this case, just web site traffic. From the perspective of the external services, the IP address of each request is what it is at request time, i.e. external services have no idea it has "changed". Private Relay obfuscates with each request (or more likely with each different domain) so external services are unable to "connect the dots" across different sites and track your activities. A good question to @mimemime is what service did they use to "check their IP online"?

 

[mimemime]

A good question to @mimemime is what service did they use to "check their IP online"?

Any of the search results of "what is my IP" in a search engine. For the end user browsing on Safari, Private Relay gives the same result as any VPN: your isp does not know what you browse and what you browse does not know your IP. VPN providers try to make people believe the opposite but really, if you just want websites to stop tracking your ip, Private Relay does it as well as any VPN, even if the technology is different. VPNs have many other valuable features, but for their most basic one, Private Relay is definitely a contender (when it works).

 

[triptolemus]

Maybe semantics here...

Your response in post #2 implied that the ISP's IP address would be the IP seen by sites visited when using Private Relay.

 

[Claudius2k]

I thought his question ws why did it stop working.

 

[mdii]

Ok, I finally found the answer on some reddit comment (thank you to the author!)
You have to reset your wifi settings by deleting the service (right click on "Wifi" in the Network panel in System Settings) and adding it again ("Add Service" via the three dots at the bottom of the same page).
I guess that if it happens on Ethernet, the same can be done with the Ethernet Service.

Thanks for sharing this. Worked for me, too. Further research turned out that I had "auto proxy discovery" turned on under the proxy settings, which seems to disable private relay. I used whatismyip.com to check the IP.

 

[katbel]

If you check your ip address having Private relay on, on your iPad or iPhone
Safari private page works as it should ✅ and better if you choose country and time zone,
instead maintain general location pinpoints at my city
Brave browser doesn't hide it every time but sometime it does and well
DuckDuckGo browser doesn't hide anything 👎🏻

 

[c84216]

Brave browser doesn't hide it every time but sometime it does and well
DuckDuckGo browser doesn't hide anything 👎🏻

I wonder why…

From Apple’s support document (emphasis mine):

iCloud Private Relay — part of an iCloud+ subscription — helps protect your privacy when you browse the web in Safari.