Browsing Security Basics Part 2 - Web Browsing History

Part 1-Your Private Data	Part 4a-Web Browser Cookies
Part 2-Web Browsing History	Part 4b-Managing Cookies
Part 3-Web Browser Cache	Part 5-Erasing Your Private Data

When your Web browser loads a web page from the Internet, it stores the address (URL) and the title of that page. The Web browsing history is made up of the list of pages you have visited.

Scripting is used to let a Web page give internal information about the Web browser to a Web site. Javascript is a popular scripting language for accessing Web browser internal information. Javascript can also submit requests to other Web sites without the general user knowing anything was sent.

Once a Web page has sent your Web browser's history to a Web site, the Web site can see if you've been to a competitor of that site, or target advertising to the nature of your Web browsing history.

Some Web browsers allow you to disable scripting, which can limit what a Web page can do but does not offer complete security. In fact, this page cleverly shows a method to avoid scripting while still reading the Web browsing history.

If you want to brush away those bread crumbs showing which Web sites you've been to, erase your Web browser's history. Web browsers should give you an option to clear your browsing history. This will erase all of the files contained within your Web browsing history.

Browser Security Basics Part 1 - Your Private Data

Part 1-Your Private Data	Part 4a-Web Browser Cookies
Part 2-Web Browsing History	Part 4b-Managing Cookies
Part 3-Web Browser Cache	Part 5-Erasing Your Private Data

Your Web browser keeps track of a lot of stuff. Most of the common Web browsers, like Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera, may store one or more of the following things called "private data":

• - Browser history - records of which sites you've visited
• - Browser cache - graphics and other Web page objects
• - Browser cookies - information stored by Web sites
  

Web browsers will store this information in files on your computer's hard drive. The locations of these files is dependent on your operating system (Windows, Unix/Linux, etc.) and Web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, etc. and version).

Options to access this information are also somewhere in your Web browser. You may need to delve into some of your Web browser's menus to look for this stuff. Please be sure to refer to the help support for your Web browser as necessary.

The next articles will separately cover History, Cache and Cookies. The last article will suggest methods of erasing this information.