Is it paranoid to think the Wi-Fi owner is checking up on what you’re doing online? Maybe… Is it possible? Absolutely. Wi-Fi owners — that could be your mom at home, or your boss at work — have easy access to the router logs, which can reveal a lot about your online activities.
Read on to find out who (else) can see your internet history, how they can do it, and what you can do to prevent it.
Can the Wi-Fi Owner See My Browsing History?
Anyone with access to the Wi-Fi router’s admin panel can check your browsing history. It doesn’t matter if it’s at home, school, or public Wi-Fi zones.
Most modern routers keep a log of connected devices, event timestamps, bandwidth used, and visited website URLs and/or IP addresses. The network admin could access this information through the router management’s back-end. They could also use sophisticated spying tools like WireShark and OpenDNS to view more details about your internet activities on their network.
Public Wi-Fi admins and owners know your data is highly valuable. That’s why some free Wi-Fi zones record your private data. They can later sell your information to advertisers and make a profit. That’s how they can afford to offer their services at no cost.
What Can the Wi-Fi Owner Actually See?
Depending on the router type, the Wi-Fi network owner or admin can find out quite a lot about your online activities from the router logs, including:
The amount of detail provided, plus the way it’s displayed, varies between routers, and sometimes it’s not presented in a particularly user-friendly way. Even so, it’s almost always possible to view user history in some form on a router.
Does Incognito Mode Hide My Activities from Wi-Fi Owners?
Think you’ve covered your tracks with Incognito mode? Nope. When you use incognito mode, your device and browser don’t keep a log of the sites you’re visiting. Yet, the Wi-Fi router can still log that information and the network admin can always retrieve that information later.
What If I Delete My Browsing History on My Device?
When you delete the browsing history on your device, it does just that and nothing more. The Wi-Fi router logs the information the minute your device sends the request. That means you’ve still left a trail on the Wi-Fi log.
How to Clear the History on a Router
- Open your internet browser
- Type in your router’s IP address and hit Enter. 192.168.0.1 is the default IP address on most routers.
- Login with your router’s username and password. If you can’t remember what this is, try admin / password or admin / 1234 or admin / admin or root / root.
- Click Status or Advanced in the navigation menu
- Click System Log or Administration-Event Log
- Click Clear Log
Remember, only the network admin can clear the logs. If that isn’t you, you’ll need another workaround. Stick around… We’ve got you covered.
Who Else Can Track My Browsing History?
Further up the chain, your internet service provider (ISP) can also track your online activity. Your ISP records many details about your digital identity. They can record your browser preferences, the websites you visit, how long you spend on them, and what you watch. Depending on local data protection laws, they might also see the device you’re using, your IP address, and your geographic location.
Many ISPs sell this information to marketing firms who use it to target you with ads. What’s more, goverments may force ISPs to store your data and hand it over to the authorities if needed. ISPs also monitor your activity to throttle you. If you take up too much bandwidth with data-intensive activities during peak hours, they slow down your connection! They may even throttle you to push you to upgrade to a higher package.
Your search engine can also see your online activity. That’s why it’s best to switch to a privacy-focused search engine like StartPage or DuckDuckGo if you don’t want targeted ads to follow you around.
Worryingly, cybercriminals and government surveillance agencies could also be snooping on your activity.
How Do I Hide My Browsing History from Wi-Fi Owners?
If deleting your history and going Incognito won’t hide your browsing activity from all and sundry, what will? You have a few options:
Check for HTTPS
Be sure you only visit sites that begin with “HTTPS” and avoid those starting with “HTTP”. HTTPS encrypts the traffic between your device and a website using Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Socket Layer (SSL). That way, snoopers can’t see your data. The Wi-Fi owner or ISP can still see the websites you visited but nothing about what you did while there. To stay secure no matter what website you visit, you can use an HTTPS browser extension like ‘HTTPS Everywhere’. That encrypts your activities, even on HTTP-based websites.
Use a Privacy-Focused Search Engine
The most popular search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo use cookies to gather your data. They can see what you search for and create a profile on you. They sell this personal information to third-party marketers who then stalk you with personalized ads. Privacy-focused search engines like StartPage and DuckDuckGo don’t track you online and do a better job shielding your sensitive data.
Switch to a Privacy-Focused ISP
You may want to look for a better ISP if you suspect yours may be profiting off your data or using your activities against you to throttle you. Shop for ISPs that value user privacy and check their Fair Use Policy to see if they impose bandwidth throttling. Even if you believe your ISP to be fair and good, the ones supplying your school or work might not be as honorable. The best way to cover yourself from all ISP tracking is with a VPN.
Browse Anonymously with Tor
Tor is a free browser that encrypts your browsing activity so third parties can’t track it. The trouble with Tor is that some ISPs cut your internet connection if they detect you’re using it. Tor also only anonymizes your browser activity, not other personal data. That means it doesn’t guarantee complete online privacy. For that, you’ll need a VPN.
Erase Your Digital Footprint with a VPN
A virtual private network (VPN) hides your browser history and all your online activities from ISPs, Wi-Fi owners, cybercriminals, snoopers, your mom, your boss, and everyone else!
A VPN goes deeper than the browser level and eliminates every trace of your digital identity: your device IDs, IP address, geographic location, and search history. A VPN encrypts your data with 256-bit AES encryption from the moment it leaves your device, so your router and ISP only receive an indecipherable jumble.
VPNs also mask your IP address (which identifies you and your device) with one of their own. That tricks your Wi-Fi router or ISP into thinking that the data comes from a different source, not you.
Source:
https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/en_US/privacyhub/can-someone-see-internet-history-use-wifi/
https://gospeedcheck.com/article/can-your-parents-see-your-search-history-on-wifi-1112
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