(In the end, he prevailed.) In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Opens in a new window) is intended to prevent evidence deletion by corporations, yet it's been applied to at least one individual. But consider that back in 2016 an employee was accused in a Canadian court of destroying evidence (Opens in a new window) after he cleared the browser history of his own personal laptop. Think that's fear-mongering? Hopefully it is, for 99% of us. These days, simply visiting can be impetus enough for outrage, blackmail, or whatever you fear most in reprisal. It doesn't even matter if you never stopped to look at the site's contents. The reality is, it can be used against you by significant others, friends, coworkers, teachers, even the authorities. It doesn't matter if you're encrypting your emails, using Tor and VPNs while browsing to stay anonymous, or if you wear a false moustache at your desk: If someone has access to your devices, they can see where you've been.Ī browser will hold your history indefinitely in the event you need to find your way back to a perhaps-forgotten corner of the internet you visited once upon a time. Think of the romantic 'comedies' where a guy (it's always a guy) finds himself in hot water after his girlfriend looks at his browser history.įor most of us, sharing a PC is normal (sadly, setting up multiple user accounts is not) and handing off a smartphone to someone isn't unheard of. And it can lead to trouble it's practically a cliché. The browser history-a list of every page you've visited online and the time you were there-is a standard of modern computing. How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.

How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.

Clear google chrome history and cookies