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Web Safety

If you are concerned that someone might check what you are looking at on your computer there are some precautions you can take.

  1. Don't use your home computer; use a computer at your local public library, an internet café, your work, or a trusted friend.
  2. Clear your web browser's history - this allows you to clear some of the evidence of the websites you have visited and searches you have done. However, you should be aware that this will not remove all records from the computer.

How to clear your computer's browser history

How you clear your web browser history depends on which web browser you use. Please follow the instructions for your browser.
Tip: If you are unsure of which browser you are using, try clicking on the "Help" menu at the top of the browser window and selecting the "About..." option to find out.

Clearing the browser history in Internet Explorer 8

  1. Click on the "Safety" menu, located at the far top-right of the browser window.
  2. Select "Delete Browsing History..." option in the drop-down menu.
  3. The "Delete Browsing History" window will pop up.
  4. Make sure "Temporary Internet Files", "Cookies", and "History" are selected, and click on the "Delete" button.

Clearing the browser history in Internet Explorer 7

  1. Click on the "Tools" menu, located at the far top-right of the browser window.
  2. Select "Delete Browsing History..." option in the drop-down menu.
  3. The "Delete Browsing History" window will pop up.
  4. Click on the "Delete files..." button under the 'Temporary Internet Files' section.
  5. Click "Yes" in the confirmation box that appears asking 'Are you sure you want to delete all temporary Internet Explorer files?'.
  6. Click on the "Delete Cookies..." button under the 'Cookies' section.
  7. Click "Yes" in the confirmation box that appears asking 'Are you sure you want to delete all cookies in the Temporary Internet Files folder?'.
  8. Click on the "Delete history..." button under the 'History' section.
  9. Click "Yes" in the confirmation box that appears asking 'Are you sure you want to delete your history of visited websites?'.

Clearing the browser history in Internet Explorer 6

  1. You can delete your history files by clicking the "Tools" menu.
  2. Select the "Internet Options" menu option.
  3. The "Internet Options" window will pop up.
  4. Click on the "Delete Cookies..." button in the "Temporary Internet files" section.
  5. Click "OK" in the "Delete Cookies" confirmation box that appears.
  6. Click on the "Delete Files..." button in the "Temporary Internet files" section.
  7. Click "OK" in the "Delete Files" confirmation box that appears.
  8. Click on the "Clear History" button in the "History" section.
  9. Click "Yes" in the confirmation box that appears.
  10. Close the main "Internet Options" window by clicking "OK" at the bottom of the window.

Clearing the browser history in Firefox 3.5

  1. Click on the "Tools" menu, located in the menu bar at the top of the browser window.
  2. Select "Clear Recent History..." from the drop-down menu.
  3. The "Clear All History" window will pop up.
  4. Make sure the "Time range to clear:" box covers the time you were on the website.
  5. Click on the "Clear Now" button at the bottom of the window.

Clearing the browser history in Firefox 3

  1. Click on the "Tools" menu, located in the menu bar at the top of the browser window.
  2. Select "Delete Private Data..." from the drop-down menu.
  3. The "Delete Private Data" window will pop up.
  4. Make sure the "Browsing History", "Download History", "Cache", and "Cookies" options are selected.
  5. Click on the "Clear Private Data Now" button at the bottom of the window.

Clearing the browser history in Safari

  1. Click on the "History" menu, located in the menu bar at the top of the browser window.
  2. Click on the "Clear History" option at the bottom of the drop-down menu.

Clearing the browser history in Google Chrome

  1. Click on the 'wrench' (tools) icon, located in the upper right hand corner of the browser window.
  2. Select "Clear browsing data..." from the drop-down menu.
  3. The "Clear Browsing Data" window will pop up.
  4. Make sure "Clear browsing history", "Clear download history", "Empty the cache", and "Delete cookies" options are selected, and make sure the "Clear data from this period:" box covers the time you were on the website.
  5. Click on the "Clear Browsing History" button at the bottom of the window.
  6. Once the window closes, your browsing history has been deleted.

Clearing the browser history in Opera 9

  1. Click on the "Tools" menu, located in the menu bar at the top of the browser window.
  2. Select "Delete Private Data..." from the drop-down menu.
  3. The "Delete Private Data" window will pop up.
  4. Click on the "Detailed Options" text to accesss the options for this window.
  5. Select the "Delete temporary cookies", "Delete all cookies", "Delete entire cache", "Clear history of visited pages" and "Clear history of file transfers".
  6. Uncheck all the other options unless you know what you are doing.
  7. Click on the "Delete" button at the bottom of the window.