More than two thirds of Brits keep their browser history hidden, but almost half didn’t realise it can still be seen by others - even without physical access to personal devices.
Web tracking and cookies allow companies and websites to access your search history, despite being viewed on your own device.
But a study of 2,000 adults found a third (32%) don’t know how to delete their browsing history, a fifth choose not to keep it private, and 43% are unaware it can be used by hackers for financial scams.
Things Brits most want to hide in their browser history include their online banking and dating site history - while 34% want to prevent their information being monetised by third parties.
Jaya Baloo, chief information security officer at Avast, a NortonLifeLock company, which commissioned the study, said: “Unfortunately, our research demonstrates an obvious knowledge gap among consumers about the fact that their browsing activity is being viewed and monetized by others, as well as the potential security issues which cybercriminals are always trying to profit from.
“As the window to the internet for 4.6 billion digital citizens around the world, the browser is a prime target for advertisers and cybercriminals, which means security and privacy is absolutely central to our daily online interactions."
The study also found 32% of adults wouldn’t want anyone to see their browsing history and 19% don’t want it seen by their partner or spouse.
Only 39% know how to delete their search history on all their devices, with a further 29% managing it on some but not others.
While 48% make deleting their history a weekly task.
It also emerged 44% didn’t know their browsing history can be sold legally to third parties, allowing them to be approached by targeted advertising.
In addition, 49% feel like they are being watched online.
As a result, 30% of those polled, via OnePoll, feel unsafe surfing the internet.
And three in 10 are annoyed that companies can track them online, with just 12% believing it’s positive that businesses are able to observe their online movements.
This has led to 52% wishing they know more about protecting their online safety, with 53% unaware there is free software that deletes your browser history.
With 46% saying this is something they’d be likely to install.
Jaya Baloo added: “Many consumers only ever use the browsers pre-installed on their devices, without considering alternative options.
“We built our secure browser to ease the burden of technical complexity so people can experience the web as they want and leave everything else to security and privacy experts.”
