Dan Goodin reports:
Features in the four major browsers designed to cloak users’ browser history often don’t work as billed, according to a research paper that warns that users may get a false sense of security when using the built-in privacy settings.
The private-browsing modes are supposed to allow users to visit a website without leaving any trace on their computers, and yet Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari frequently leave tracks, according to the research, which is scheduled to be presented at next week’s Usenix Security Symposium in Washington DC. The makers of those browsers — Microsoft, Mozilla, Google, and Apple respectively — often hail the offerings as a way to enhance privacy when using shared computers.
Read more in The Register.