IE InPrivate Browsing

OEM · 27 May 2009

Was playing around with IE "InPrivate" browser and noticed something not so private about it.

InPrivate Browsing is supposed to keep your internet tracks from showing if you walked away from your pc and didn't clear the cache. However, there's a small problem with this.

Try this:

1. Clear your ie history cache
2. Open ie and choose to open a InPrivate Browser
3. On the first tab open google and search for anything you want
4. Right click on a few links to open them in a new tab. 2 or 3 is good
5. Now close all the tabs except the first one.
6. Check your history, it should be empty
7. Now open a new tab (not from any links) (ctrl + t)
8. If you see what I see, thats not that private

What you'll see is a list of the tabs you've closed, basically the same kind of history of your session thats supposed to be private.

The only reason I bring this up is there is a possibility that some one who believes because they closed just the tabs that they don't want seen isn't good enough. You have to close the window. Most probably will, but there is a chance that some one will have a tab open that there not concerned about and thus leave the window open thinking there protected because nothings in the history. It's a small oversight in my opinion, but it could happen. I don't believe that the new tab should show any past history while using this feature.

OEM · 14 Jul 2010

Was looking through some of my old created threads and came across this one. I just wanted to remind people that they must close the ie window completely, and not just the tabs they had opened leaving one open that their not concerned with. This isn't anything ground breaking as "in private browsing" is just local anonymity.

But if your young and have pesty parents who always want to see what you've been uo to, remember this little glitch. I and I'm sure many others never close the ie browser completely, but rather just the tabs I no longer am interested in. Well thats not good enough while using "in private browsing" b/c of this little glitch that when you open the default setting new tab, it shows all the tabs you recently visited within that ie window. It keeps just as much info as history does.

Again, this doesn't mean the internet folks can't retrace your steps, this is just for those at home looking over your shoulder. If you ask me, IPB is a joke and is nothing more than trying to make people feel safe to visit sites that they most likely would not visit otherwise, but like I said, this is local protection only and only when you close ie completely and not just some of the tabs.

There are much better ways to protect yourself, one example is what is known as sandboxing. Sandboxie is a free program that when your done browsing can completely get rid of every file and folder created while using it. Its really good for testing new programs too. You can install it and if you don't like it, can remove it completely from your PC with one click, much better than un-installing a program on your system as they usually leave many files and registry entries behind. Use sandbox and chose not to save your session and everything is gone.

Check it out here at Sandboxie. If you like what you read about it, click the download tab at the top right side, and chose to download from sandboxie itself.

Good Luck and Safe Browsing as they're whatch'n you, ...bugha bugha bugha

Added:

What it boils down to:

While using "In Private Browsing" the ability to "reopen closed tabs" should NOT be shown.

It is the same thing as history if the ie window is left open on a tab that your not concerned with, but you have closed the tabs you didn't want others to see.