History and Cookies

From MetroPipe WIKI

Contents

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History, Cookies, and Your Online Privacy

As you browse the web, even through the Tunneler, your browser keeps a trail of the websites you've visited. This trail can be viewed by anyone in the future who has access to your computer and web browser. In addition, websites place bits of information on your computer called cookies. These cookies can't do any harm, and they actually serve useful functions like keeping track of your login so you don't have to enter your usename and password every time you access a site, or tracking you through the process of ordering online, etc. Many sites cannot function without these cookies, but they do leave a trail that can compromise your privacy long after you've closed down your web browser.

Also, in order to increase the speed of your browsing experience, browsers store the images and text in a folder called a cache. Instead of re-loading this information, the browser will load it from the cache instead of the website. This increases the speed at which the web page is displayed, because it is much much faster to load an image from your hard drive than it is the Internet. Obviously, these cached pages and images can compromise your privay as much as the History and Cookie information.

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How to Protect Your Privacy from the Triple Threat of History, Cookies, and Cache

Browser programmers have recently responded to privacy concerns of their users. They've added ways you can easily clear your browsing history, control the cookies that sites set, and delete all your cache files. We'll discuss these features and show you how to use them in Internet Explorer and Firefox.

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A Prescription for Privacy

To ensure your privacy from unecssary cookies, lingering history trails and cache files, we recommend you follow the following steps:

  1. Use the instructions below to limit your exposure to Cookies. You only need to do this once.
  2. After every private browsing session, follow the instructions below to delete your History.
  3. After every private browsing session, delete your cache by following the instructions below.


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Controlling Your Cookies

Two techniques are available for you when dealing with cookies. First, you can simly refuse all cookies. Second, you can instruct your web browser to ask you whenever a website attempts to set a cookie on your system. Ther first method is simpler and less time consuming; but many site do not work without cookies, and you will be unable to use these sites. The second method is more time consuming, but will permit you to use sites that require cookies; just allow cookies from those sites, and deny cookies from the sites you don't trust or are unsure about.


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Internet Explorer and Cookies

Controlling Cookies with Internet Explorer

  1. Launch Internet Explorer if it is not already running.
  2. Select Internet Options from the Tools menu.
  3. Click the Privacy tab.
  4. Click the Advanced button.
  5. To refuse all cookies, select the Block option for both first and third party cookies. To have IE ask you to accept or reject every cookie sent to you, click the Prompt option for both first and thirst party cookies (first party cookies are cookies sent from the site you are visting. Third party cookies are cookies sent from sites other than the site you are visiting - mostly advertisers and traffic monitoring services).
  6. Click OK in the Advanced Privacy settings window, and the Internet Options window to save your changes.

Deleting Cookies in Internet Explorer

  1. Launch Internet Explorer if it is not already running.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and then click the General tab.
  3. In the Temporary Internet Files section, click Delete Cookies, click OK, and then click OK again.
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Firefox and Cookies

Controlling Cookies with Firefox

  1. Launch Firefox if it is not already running.
  2. Select Options from the Tools menu.
  3. Click the Privacy icon in the sidebar.
  4. Show the Cookie options by clicking on the Cookies item in the list.
  5. If you wish to prevent Firefox from accepting any cookies, uncheck the Accept Cookies checbox. If you want to have Firefox ask you for each cookie that is sent, click the Ask for Each Cookie option. If in addition you only want to be prompted for first party cookie and reject all third party cookies, then check the for the originating Website only checkbox.
  6. Click OK to save your changes.

Deleting Cookies with Firefox

  1. Launch Firefox if it is not already running.
  2. Select Options from the Tools menu.
  3. Click the Privacy icon in the sidebar.
  4. Click the Clear button in the Cookies row
  5. Click OK.


 

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Controlling Your Browsing History

Your entire browsing history can be cleared and deleted at the click of a button in both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Follow the directions below after every private browsing session to protect your privacy:</p>

To Clear Internet Explorer's Browser History:

  1. If Internet Explrorer isn't running, launch it.
  1. Select Options... from the Tools menu.
  2. Select the General tab.
  3. Click the Clear History button near the bottom of the window.
  4. When IE asks for permission to delete the History, press the Yes button.
  5. Click OK to exit the Options window.


To Clear Firefox's Browser History:

  1. If Firefox isn't running, launch it.
  2. Select Options... from the Tools menu.
  3. Click the Privacy icon in the sidebar.
  4. Click the Clear button on the History row
  5. Click the OK button to exit the Options Window.

Both Internet Explorer and Firefox allow you to limit the number of days that your History is stored. Less days stored means less of a privacy-threatening History trail. So we recommend setting your History to one or zero days.

 

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Controlling your Cache

Controlling your privacy exposure of the cache is rather simple: just remember to delete it after every private browsing session. Follow the instructions below.

Controlling the Cache in Internet Explorer

  1. Start up Internet Explorer
  2. Select Internet Options from the Tools menu, then select the General tab.
  3. Click the Delete Files button in the Temporary Internet Files section.
  4. In the window that pops up, check the 'Delete all offline content' box and press OK.
  5. Click OK in the Options box.

Controlling the Cache in Firefox

  1. Start Firefox.
  2. Select Options from the Tools menu.
  3. Click the Privacy icon in the sidebar.
  4. In the Cache row, click the Clear button.
  5. Click the OK button.
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