Browse the web privately with new Browzar

Stan Beer
Sunday, 03 September 2006 18:46

Your IT - Home IT

The thought that the data on your computer from web browsing and search queries could become a window into your life is an increasing worry for users. That's why a well known internet entrepreneur has launched a new browser, called Browzar, designed specifically to protect user privacy.

Launched by the founder of UK free ISP Freeserve, Ajaz Ahmed, Browzar is actually a shell that is built around Microsoft's Internet Explorer, that automatically deletes all traces of any history on computers associated with users' browsing and searches, while they surf the net.

Most of the traceable history of web searches in Internet Explorer and other browsers is contained in cookies, cache, page visit history and auto-completion of URLs, usernames and passwords. While these functions are handy tools to enhance the web surfing experience and performance, they are a potential double edged sword that can compromise the privacy of users if their computers get into the wrong hands.

Browzar's appeal is that it automatically erases any data associated with individual browsing sessions so that users can feel at ease that when others use the same computer there is no way they can trace their web browsing activities, including what sites they visited, what details they have entered into online forms and what searches they made.

Aside from notebook theft, many users sell their computers without realizing that the new owner may be able to gain access to their most intimate details through data left inadvertently left on disk about their web browsing history.

While all of the major browsers enable users to remove all traces of their activities, it is neither an automatic or particularly user friendly process.