Web browsers today are more focused on user privacy and data protection. Developers want users to have the safest web browsing experience without compromising with the performance. And that’s where things get nasty.
To load web pages faster, browsers store a lot of information on your systems such as cache files that includes JavaScript, CSS files, images, etc. and cookies—also known as internet cookie, web cookie, and browser cookie.
Cookies are small text files stored by the web server on your web browser when you access a website or web app. Cookies help speed up the load time and helps enhance the overall browsing experience.
However, cookies possess a significant threat to your privacy when you fail to manage them.
Besides improving web load time, cookies can track your online activities and store your browsing history along with saved passwords, debit/credit card details, login information, download history, and much more.
Did you know: Cookies can be forged and Malware or virus can be disguised as cookie, which can potentially pass on your internet activity data to hackers?
In one of the massive data breach, hackers used forged cookies to hack 32 million Yahoo user accounts revealing their account password and identities.
Also, the browser-collected information is stored on your system—unencrypted. Thus, anyone can get access to your browsing data and know all details saved by the browser. And therefore, erasing the traces of internet activities beyond recovery becomes a critical task.
How to Permanently Erase Internet Activities Data
If you think CCleaner does the job, well think again!
CCleaner just deletes the internet activities from your system, which means the data remains recoverable. Any person with malicious intent can quickly get access to your deleted internet activities with the help of a basic data recovery software in just a few clicks.
However, when you use a certified file eraser and privacy-safeguarding tool—such as Blancco File Eraser, Eraser, BitRaser for File—no data recovery software or services can get back your internet activity data.
These file eraser tools feature international data erasure algorithms that destroy data effectively. A tool like BitRaser for File also features verification methods and dedicated options to permanently erase your internet activities
Similarly, you can get rid of other sensitive information stored on your systems such as system traces and application traces that contains your chat messages, email database, contacts, etc.
Further, you can automate the erasure tasks. Just choose the erasure algorithm, verification method along with the time or boot event at which you want to get rid of your internet activity data.
For instance, every day at 12:00 PM or as soon as you shut down or reboot your system.
Conclusion
Data privacy is a challenge in today’s digital era. It is estimated that by 2020, every human being on the earth will generate 1.7MB data every minute. And in the world of connected devices, web browsing will be one of the largest contributors. So to ensure your internet activities are not open to the world, and social media sites or any malicious site or malware can’t track your online and offline activities, you must erase your internet activity data from your PC.
This is critical as mere deleting the browsing data with tools like CCleaner won’t help since the data remains recoverable. Thus, you must securely erase your internet activities to ensure data protection and privacy.
For this, you can use a privacy-safeguarding tool like File Eraser Software that features international data erasure algorithms such as DoD 5220.22-M, NATO, etc. along with verification method that ensures data destruction beyond recovery.
These certified file eraser software also generates a tamper-proof data erasure report (also known as Certificate of Erasure) that can be used to meet the data protection regulatory compliances and audits such as GDPR*.
*Report is generated when you use the ‘Search File’ option and mark ‘Create Certificate’ checkbox in BitRaser for File software.