Ask Abby

First Time Visitors

D14: Privacy tracing research

QUESTION: Can someone trace what I’ve researched online?

ANSWER: The websites that you’ve visited shouldn’t be tracing your steps, but your computer keeps a history of what websites you’ve visited. So, if someone has access to your machine they can see where you’ve been.
 
To clear the history on a PC in Explorer, click Tools, then click Internet Options and, under Browsing History, click Delete. To clear the history on a Mac, when in Safari, click History and the click Clear History. To clear the history using Firefox, on either Mac or PC, click Tools, then Clear Private Data, and finally click Clear Private Data Now.