Privacy on the Internet
Concerned about someone finding out where you've been
on the net?
Here's how to reduce the chances that your net travels
will be traced.
Browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer are designed
to leave traces behind indicating where you've been
and what you've been looking at on the Internet. It's
hard to absolutely guarantee that your travels on the
Internet can't be traced at all, but here are some simple
things you can do to reduce the chances that someone
can look through your computer and find out what you've
been reading.
In general, you want to erase two different things
after you've left a site that you don't want to be traced.
One is the "cache" where the computer stores
copies of files you've looked at recently with your
browser. This will be a directory that will have various
files stored in it. You will want to erase all of those
files. The second thing you need to erase is your History
list. This will be a single file containing the addresses
of the places you've recently visited.
If you use the Netscape web browser
- Open the EDIT menu
- choose PREFERENCES
- choose ADVANCED
- then choose CACHE.
- A screen will appear where you can click on the
buttons, "Clear Memory Cache" and "Clear
Disk Cache." Click on each of these and then
hit "OK." Your cache will now be cleared.
- Click on the EDIT menu
- choose PREFERENCES
- then choose NAVIGATOR. A "Clear History"
button will appear on the screen.
- Select it, then choose "OK." Your history
list will now be erased.
If you've got a more recent version of Netscape installed
on your computer, you will also want to clear your location
bar list.
- Open the EDIT menu
- choose PREFERENCES
- then choose NAVIGATOR. Click on the "Clear
Location Bar" button at the bottom of the window
- then choose "OK"
If you use the Internet Explorer web browser
- Open the VIEW menu
- choose INTERNET OPTIONS
- then choose the GENERAL tab at the top.
- In the section called "Temporary Internet Files,"
click on "Delete Files" to clear your cache.
- On the same screen, in the section called "History,"
click on the "Clear History" button to erase
your history list.
- In Internet Explorer, clearing the cache and history
will automatically clear the address bar on your browser.
Other browsers
Other browsers will be slightly different in the detail
of what's required to do these two things. But in any
case, what you'll need to do is clear your cache (or
"temporary files") and erase your history
list. Again, this doesn't guarantee that your browsing
can't be traced. Someone with greater computer sophistication
will still be able to reconstruct your net travels.
But it's a good thing to do to make it more difficult
for someone to know where you've been. |
