Too connected, no privacy.

[Rageaholic]

Don't get me wrong, I love how technology is giving us new ways to communicate. What I hate is the demand for not only making sure you're connected, but making sure your friends know everything you have been doing online. I'm paranoid enough as it is on the internet, I don't feel comfortable letting people know what I've been doing.

It wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't expected of everyone. I have been preasured enough to do facebook (which I feel so exposed on). It's also a problem on youtube and why I don't befriend anyone on youtube. It may sound cold, but the system is set up so that everyone will know what you've been doing (unless there's a way to turn that off). I don't want that! I just want to be able to watch videos and maybe recommend some I find funny to others. I mean seriously, why does anyone need to know of all my activity?

And I also hate that "recommended videos" thing that basically lets everyone who borrows your computer for youtube know what you've been watching. Same thing with any other search engine that records all your browsing history and puts it in plain view so anyone can access it. I don't mind if the websites know or keep track of my search history, but do they have to make it so hard to erase your history?

[Nyoibo]

Tell me about it, it's getting harder and harder to erase my porn history.

In all seriousness though (although I was serious above) the amount of information that's being kept on people and what they do online is downright scary.

[HYHYBT]

I don't know what browser you use or anything, but it probably has something similar.... Safari, I know, has a "Reset Safari..." option in the menu that clears pretty well everything.

Better, though: those things are awfully convenient when it really is you using the computer. You can always let others who borrow it use a guest account.

(Not *quite* always. I can't, because my trackpad button is worn out, and while I've gotten used to tapping to click and to drag, that's disabled by default... and of course a guest account always uses the default settings..)

[Andara Bledin]

Most browsers these days have a "privacy" setting in them to help keep your activities from being stored with who you browse.

Firefox has an option called "Start Private Browsing" in the Tools menu, for instance.

I have both my home and work systems set to flush cookies on close. This serves two purposes: I don't get call backs based on previous day's habits, and I also have to log in to every site anew, meaning that if someone were to hop on my system at work while I wasn't there, they wouldn't be able to log into any of my stuff without knowing the passwords (I don't save any personal passwords at work).

^-.-^

[HYHYBT]

Work, or other people's computers, are one thing, but on my own laptop, I hate, hate, HATE having to re-log into everywhere I go. Especially when I've checked the "keep me signed in" box and have not cleared my cookies or anything. I know cookies have an expiration date, but why do sites set them to expire so quickly? CS, I like: I've gone a year before without visiting the site and was still logged in when I came back. But other sites, even when they say they'll keep me logged in, expire after a day, a week, or whatever anyway. What's the purpose of that?

[Andara Bledin]

My computer becomes semi-public three times a year, so it's in my best interest to not keep all my log-ins active.

And, really, how hard is it to re-log into places? Set a master password, and then you only really have to enter one password per login.

^-.-^

[blas87]

I'm currently furious with YouTube because they decided that, for me to continue viewing videos, I have to either link to a google account, or give them my phone number so they can text me my google account.

I don't want a Google account. Fucking assholes.

[Rageaholic]

Oh yeah, I remember the google thing. They made me change my password just to get the damn account (because their stupid system wouldn't accept my old password). Obviously just a ploy to get more ad revenue or something, but it's still annoying as hell.

[insertNameHere]

Firefox

CTRL+SHIFT+P ...... the hot key for "private mode" (porn mode)

[Nyoibo]

Huh, that would have been useful back when I shared a computer, now the only person who uses it is my girlfriend and she hardly ever uses it.

[Andara Bledin]

Private browsing isn't just to keep local snoops from checking your history - it'll also keep tracking cookies and third party cookies from knowing what other sites you visit.

^-.-^