Online privacy
The best advice is to use a library, a community centre or a friends computer.
No warranty
This advice comes without a warranty of any kind. The best way to hide browsing history is to use a computer which is inaccessible to who you're trying to hide from.
Hiding your surfing history
It is nearly impossible to hide your surfing history from someone who really wants to find out where you've been surfing to. That said, most users will be able to take basic action to prevent others from casually observing their browsing history.
What is a browser
It's a computer program that you use to see the internet, the most widely used browser is Internet Explorer. You can find which browser you using by clicking the "Help" option on the menubar. It will then list an option such as "About Internet Explorer" or "About Mozilla Firefox"; click this option and it will bring up a pop-up box with the version of your browser and some other information listed. You could also this browser information page at about.com or try this local browser information page.
Which browsers?
This advice only covers the most recent browsers (as of May 2007). Older browsers, particularly on a Windows based computer, can hide browsing history away in all sorts of places. We recommend the use of Opera 9, Safari (on OS X), Konqueror 3.5, Firefox 2 or Internet Explorer 7.
What you can do
You can tell your browser to remove all the files that it has created with information about your surfing. The problem with this is that it will delete everything. This will be apparent to a regular internet surfer. In particular this process will delete passwords for sites you use and will also remove the auto-completion information from the address bar.
How to do it?
This advice only covers the most recent browsers (as of May 2007). Older browsers, particularly on a Windows based computer, can hide browsing history away in all sorts of places. We recommend the use of Opera 9, Safari (on OS X), Konqueror 3.5, Firefox 2 or Internet Explorer 7.
The following sections are for: Internet Explorer, Opera and Firefox (PC) respectively.
Internet Explorer 7 (IE7)
Click "Tools" and select "Delete browsing history".
Click "Delete All" (at bottom of dialog box).
IE6
Previous versions of Internet Explorer require expert attention is browsing history is to be removed properly. Their is a dialog for removing some information, but it is not very good:
Opera 9
Click "Tools" and select "Delete private data".
Ensure all the checkboxes are checked, then click the "Delete" button at the bottom of the dialog box.
Firefox 2
Click "Tools" and select "Clear private data".
Ensure all the checkboxes are checked, then click the "Clear Private Data Now" button at the bottom of the dialog box.
Toolbars and addons
Toolbars and addons may save "history" information too
Their are many additional widgets that can be used as part of your browser: such as the Google toolbar and Yahoo toolbar. These will often keep information about your browsing history and/or searches you have made. Follow the links in this paragraph to find out more information about these toolbars.
Other sources of information about online privacy
- From the UK Womens Aid website: The Survivor's Handbook > Keeping yourself safe
- From the Welsh Womens Aid website: Cover your tracks
Information on this page corresponds closely to the advice given at these sites.
