Credit: Techlicious
For those times you really don’t want something in your browser history.
Being someone who has grown up navigating the canals of the internet, I’ve developed my own special brand of street smarts that keeps me out of the dark alleys and away from the eternal horrors. For some folks, though, browsing smarts don’t always come natural. It’s understandable; the internet’s a big, weird place, and you’ve got to be vigilant. One wrong click, and you’ll get served like a dude on butler island. If you’re worried about stepping in something unpleasant, take a few things into consideration.
First, it pays to know some info about yourself. No, not your blood type or whether you like long walks on the beach. You should know about IP addresses and cookies.
Your IP address is sort of like a virtual mail address. It’s a sequence of numbers your internet service provider (or ISP) uses to keep track of your service. Don’t worry, they don’t give those out or anything. However, IPs can be linked to anything you enter in while on them, which can include personal info. An IP can also indicate when different accounts send info from the same place, which is more of a circumstantial concern.
Next are cookies. Cookies are text files your web browser generates when visiting certain sites. Usually, they include stuff like login information and site preferences. Your browser can, however, pick up third-party cookies from other websites that could carry data from advertisers. These can allow advertisers to track your browsing habits, at least in that particular part of the internet.
So you’ve got your basic info, now what? Well, your first and foremost lines of defense are proxies and VPNs. Proxies allow you to bounce your browser off of another, which can help to hide your IP address. VPNs can do that as well, and have the added bonus of keeping your information flowing through strictly private channels. The practical difference is that there are many free proxies online, whereas VPNs usually charge for their services. Gotta determine how much privacy is worth to you, I guess.
As for cookies, VPNs will usually clear them for you, but you can also clear them yourself through your browser’s options. Just remember that clearing cookies will usually log you out of websites and remove any browsing preferences you have there.
One last thing to note: third party services like Google will track your search history if you’re signed in while using it. Your browser history can be cleared at your leisure, but you’ll need to go into the relevant accounts to clear specialized search histories. Your ISP usually keeps records as well, but again, they won’t share those unless you give them a really good reason to like committing a crime.
