Which Records are Erased*

The Private Browser is designed to make sure that any automatic, involuntary records of where you have been are erased, but it preserves a couple records that you may create yourself. This table outlines what is kept and what is erased when you use Private Browser.

Normally, whether you are using ZoneAlarm browser security or not, browser records of where you have been, such as a history list of sites you visited, are preserved. In Private Browser mode, such records of where you have been are erased.

The items in the table above are explained in more detail below.

Records of Where You Have Been

The following tracks are erased when you exit Private Browser:

• Lists of sites you visited in Private Browser. Sites you have visited are typically available through a menu item called History.
• Any cookies your browser picks up in a Private Browser session. Web sites you visit often install cookies into your browser, and you can see a list of these cookies (which usually includes site names) in your Web browser settings. Cookies are used by sites to recognize you or track what you do on a site. For example, this is how sites save your "shopping cart" contents and account information.
• The browser cache of your Private Browsing sessions. The browser cache is a temporary storage area of content copied from pages you have visited, which is preserved so that the pages can load quickly the next time you visit.
• Any Bookmark or Favorite you created in your browser Bookmarks or Favorites list.

Records of What You Have Downloaded

Web browsers keep a list of what you have downloaded, which usually pops up each time you download from the Web. What you download while using Private Browser is not recorded in this list.

Records of What You Have Typed

To prevent other users from seeing what you type, auto-completion and auto-fill are turned off when you are in Private Browser mode. Auto-completion is where your Web browser remembers what you have typed in search fields and online forms, and completes words when you (or someone else) begin typing the same letters.

Auto-fill is when information you commonly enter in online forms, such as names, passwords, and addresses, is saved by the browser and filled in automatically when you fill out an online form.

Also, some people configure their Web browser to store passwords automatically. Any passwords that become stored while you are in Private Browser are deleted when you exit Private Browser.