Web Browser Private Modes A Little Leaky
Written by Frank HayesAugust 12th, 2010
In Web browsers, privacy isn't all it's cracked up to be. A university study released Wednesday (August 11) says the "privacy mode" available in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari Web browsers aren't as secure from prying eyes as users might hope. All four browsers can leak information to some degree, ranging from leaving traces in a PC's memory to displaying cookies when in private mode, according to a report from the research teams at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon.
The study also points to an interesting project by the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) called Panopticlick, which tries to uniquely identify a user through information the Web browser can't hide, such as screen resolution, plug-ins, time zone and fonts. The EFF claims it can use that information to identify a browser returning to the site 99 percent of the time, even if it's in private mode. Fortunately, that still doesn't expose more information than a cookie.
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-Christine
