Hiding your tracks online
If you are concerned that your partner will check where you have been online - email, internet chat or just searching the web - this information will assist you in hiding your tracks online.
Do not use your home computer to access sensitive information
If you want to access sensitive information, particularly about domestic violence, use a friend's computer or a computer in a public place - an internet café or a library. The Fremantle City Library has free internet access for members, as do many other local libraries.
Is your partner likely to be monitoring you?
If your partner constantly monitors what you do - checking the phone records and tracking the car mileage, you can assume that they do the same with the internet.
What can your partner learn?
Your partner may read the emails you send and receive, even messages you have attempted to delete. They may also log all use of IRC (internet chat) and browse through past conversations.
If your partner has access to the computer you are using, then he/she is able to see all of the websites you have been visiting.
Where are your tracks recorded?
Every time you visit a webpage, it is recorded in three different places on your computer - the browser's history, the cache, and the typed URLs list.
- The browsers history - your browser keeps a record of the URLs of web pages you have recently visit. When web pages are displayed, your browser uses this list to determine whether each link in the document should be displayed in the normal link colour or the visited link colour.
- The browsers cache - in order to speed your online viewing, your browser stores copies of the pages you visit in the cache on your hard drive. When you revisit a page, it may display the version from your hard drive instead of reloading the page. In Microsoft's Internet Explorer the cache is called 'temporary internet files'.
- The browsers typed URLs - a stored list of addresses that you have manually typed into the drop-down box on the location bar. You can remove an item from this list by typing enough other URLs to bump it off at the end. Your browser allows you to completely clear any of these lists temporarily - the lists grow again when you visit new web pages.
What you can do
If you must use your home computer, follow these suggestions:
The web
- Do not type website addresses directly into the location bar- this is the drop-down box which shows the URL (address) of the current webpage. Typing an URL in the location bar and pressing return will move you to that webpage. Clicking the arrow button at the right of the box produces a pull-down menu displaying the most recently typed URLs.
- Instead, use the "open" dialogue box, as it doesn't permanently record URLs. Choose "File" > "Open Location" or "File > "Open" from your browser's menu. Then type the URL of the website you want to visit and click "OK". If you must visit web pages on a topic that may upset your partner, dilute those sensitive activities by visiting a large number of innocuous websites.
- Innocuous website addresses - the typed URLs list in your browser's location bar only stores 10-20 items, depending on the browser you are using. This means that a beginner can safely remove an URL from the list by simply typing in enough other URLs to 'bump' it off the end of the list.
- You could even try learning a web browser that your partner does not often use. If he/she uses Netscape, then use Microsoft Internet Explorer (or vice versa). It is possible that your partner will not think to monitor a program s/he does not use.
Email
- If you do not want it to be recorded, do not say it!
- If you must send an email containing sensitive information, delete it from the 'send' box, and then delete it from the 'deleted' items' box.
Remember:
- A computer expert may still be able to recover the deleted file from your hard drive.
- Another copy of your email is usually kept by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
- You have no control over how many people have access to your email at the other end.
IRC (internet chat )
- Beginners - if you don't want it to be recorded, don't say it!
- Advanced - check if your chat program has an "enable/disable log" setting. Disable the log while you chat, and restore it to the original setting when you finish.
Need further information?
If you later decide that you want further information, you could search around the internet for more detailed information on how to clear individual items from the cache, typed URLs and history.