A Free Educational Resource Created by Carnegie Mellon University to Empower You to Secure Your Part of Cyberspace

Keeping Browser Data Private

You can take a few steps to protect your privacy while web browsing.

As you visit websites, your web browsing habits can be monitored by third party websites. This happens quite often! The third party websites can access the browsing information and determine a few personal details based on your browsing habits.

To see evidence of this, you can try the following test to determine what third parties may know about you:

You will see a results page with a prediction of your profile based on your browsing habits. The third party websites can predict the results based on your browsing habits, depending on the privacy settings of your browser. Your profile can be predicted with a higher accuracy if more information is present in your browser.

In order to minimize the chances of others accessing information from your browser, you can follow a few simple practices for safe browsing.

Manage Cookies

Many web browsers offer you options to manage how cookies are stored.

In Internet Explorer, to modify what types of cookies are used, use the following steps:

  • Click on the Tools menu, and select "Internet Options".
  • Click on the Privacy Tab. Under the Settings section, you should be able to see a slider which will indicate the current level of privacy settings. As you move the slider, you will be able to see a description of the types of cookies that are blocked or allowed at that privacy level.
  • Choose the privacy level, click "Apply," and then "OK".

Similarly, the support pages for other browsers, such as Firefox and Chrome, will give instructions on how to manage cookies. Please refer to the help section of your preferred browser.

Note: Cookies contain information that a website stores on the hard disk so that it can remember information about you at a later time. Cookies are not used for advertising alone. They are sometimes used to store login information so that you do not need to enter the password when you visit the same website again. Cookies can also be used to store the status of a game that you may be playing on the Internet so that you can resume it later. Some websites do not work properly without cookies. Before you enable cookies for a particular website on your browser, please make sure that the website is one that you trust.

Delete Browser History

Many browsers offer you the option to delete your browser history periodically, such as every time you close your browser.

In Internet Explorer, use the following options:

  • From the Tools menu, select "Internet Options" and then the General Tab.
  • Click on "Delete files" and then "OK".
  • Click "Delete cookies" and then "OK".
  • Click "Clear History" and then click "OK".

Other browsers will provide instructions on how to clear your browsing history as well. Please refer to the help section of your preferred browser.

Use Private Browsing

Private browsing is a feature provided by some browsers. During private browsing, the browser does not store any cookies, does not save any web pages for offline viewing and does not store any history of sites listed.

Internet Explorer 8 and more recent versions of IE provide the private browsing option. In Internet Explorer, open a new tab and then select "Browse with InPrivate" to prevent your browsing history, temporary Internet files, form data, cookies, usernames and passwords from being retained by the browser. Other browsers offer private browsing options too, so check your privacy options or the help section for details.

Note: If parental controls are enabled, the InPrivate browsing feature is disabled. (A relief for parents!)

Take the Test Again?

Follow the steps mentioned above to delete the cookies and clear the browsing history. Repeat the test that you performed at the beginning. You should see that the test reveals less information about you.

By taking a few simple measures, you can protect your web browsing privacy to a large extent. Additionally, it is very important to keep your computer and software updated with the latest versions in order to protect your data.

References

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