How to use this site safely

Please note, this information is for guidance only and it may not be possible to completely hide your tracks. If you want to be completely sure of not being tracked online, the safest way would be to access the internet at a local library, a friend’s house or at work, if appropriate.

Internet browsers save information from the websites that you surf on the internet. This includes website images, a history of the sites you have visited, and words entered into search engines.

It’s quite easy for someone to see the most recently visited websites on a computer. It is not completely possible to eradicate your ‘footsteps’ whilst viewing websites however there are ways in which you can reduce the possibility of people knowing where you have been on the Internet.


Here are the steps:


First you must work out what internet browser you are using to access the internet, such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to access the internet (if you’re using another browser, the steps should be similar to one of these browsers). If you do not know the type of browser you are using, look at the title bar at the very top of the window – It should end in either ‘Mozilla Firefox’ or ‘Internet Explorer’, for example.
If you are still unsure, visit this webpage and it will give you the answer automatically: http://www.thismachine.info/

Below are guidelines for browsing in private mode (so that your browsing history is not stored) and guidelines for deleting browsing history.


HOW TO BROWSE IN PRIVATE MODE


Deleting the browsing history from a computer can seem suspicious to other users of the computer. Most modern browsers however have what’s called ‘private mode’ or ‘incognito mode’. This automatically opens a new browsing window where what you are currently doing/browsing is not tracked but all other past history is kept intact.

The following guidelines and links may be of help:

For Internet Explorer:


To open an InPrivate Browsing window, you can either use the Ctrl+Shift+P shortcut key, or just use the Safety \ InPrivate Browsing item on the menu. You’ll immediately see a private browsing window, which will leave no traces of your browsing history.
http://www.howtogeek.com/?post_type=post&p=1488


For Firefox:


At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button (Tools menu in Windows XP) and select ‘Start Private Browsing’. You can also use the Ctrl+Shift+P shortcut key. When you turn on Private Browsing, Firefox alerts you that it will save your other, current windows and tabs for after you finish using Private Browsing. Click ‘Start Private Browsing’ to continue.
http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-browse-web-without-saving-info


For Google Chrome:


You can open an incognito window by clicking on the wrench icon on the browser toolbar and selecting ‘New Incognito Window’. A new window will open and any browsing in the new window will not be stored. You can continue browsing as normal in the other window.
https://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95464&p=cpn_incognito


HOW TO CLEAR BROWSING HISTORY



In Internet Explorer 6x:

  1. Open Internet Explorer.
  2. Click ‘Tools’ and then click ‘Internet Options’. The Internet Options window opens.
  3. To remove browser history, go to the History section on the General tab, and then click ‘Clear History’.
  4. Click ‘Yes’ on the prompt that appears.


In Internet Explorer 7:

  1. Open Internet Explorer.
  2. Click ‘Tools’ and then click ‘Delete Browsing History’. The Delete Browsing History window appears.
  3. To remove browser history, click ‘Clear History’.
  4. Click ‘Yes’ on the prompt that appears.


In Firefox 2.0:

  1. Open Firefox.
  2. Click ‘Tools’ and then click ‘Clear Private Data’. The Clear Private Data window appears.
  3. To remove browser history, leave the checkmark beside ‘Clear Browsing History’, or mark the check box if it is empty.


In Google Chrome:


You can delete some or all your browsing history from Google Chrome.


To clear your entire browsing history:

  1. Open Google Chrome.
  2. Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar.
  3. Select ‘Tools’.
  4. Select ‘Clear browsing data’.
  5. In the dialog that appears, select the ‘Clear browsing history’ checkbox.
  6. Use the menu at the top to select the amount of data you want to delete. Select ‘beginning of time’ to clear your entire browsing history.
  7. Click ‘Clear browsing data’.


To clear specific items from your browsing history:

  1. Open Google Chrome.
  2. Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar.
  3. Select ‘History’.
  4. Mouse over the items you would like to remove and tick their checkboxes.
  5. Click the ‘Remove selected items’ button below the blue bar at the top of the page.
  6. Click ‘OK’ when the confirmation window appears.


Warning about deleting browsing history


If you delete browsing history from a computer, other users of the computer may become suspicious when they see that there is no list of websites previously browsed. Also, if you tick ‘cookies’ when selecting the options for clearing browsing history, you will delete login information that someone else may have stored meaning that the next time they try to log in to their usual websites (for example online banking, or email accounts) they will unexpectedly need to re-enter their log-in details which may cause suspicion.