Cookie Scrubber

Tools like Privacy History Eraser  and CleanUp!  can periodically or manually erase all cookies and browser history. These versatile tools can also erase offline history, like recently opened documents and temporary files on the user's computer.

To save the user from having to remember and type in commonly visited Web site names and links, browsers like Internet Explorer  , Firefox  , and Opera  typically maintain a browser history of most frequently and recently accessed Web sites. This browser history is easily available by clicking in the address bar.

While convenient, this browser history has the disadvantage of allowing anyone with access to the same computer to find out the surfing habits of the user.

Cookies come from many Web sites, like e-commerce, social networking and email sites, which save authentication information on the user’s computers. This way, users do not need to type in their user name and password every time, and the Web site "remembers" the user.

The intent of cookies is to speed up and simplify user interaction, but these cookies can also be an effective way of tracing user behavior.