Under surveillance. (Cyberwise).Q I work for a small company. Each day I check my personal e-mail. I spend about five minutes online. Can my employer access my personal e-mail or track my use? --B. Shacklett Indianapolis The short answer is yes. Most employers monitor their employees' use of the Internet on some level. Some employ sophisticated software to track which sites an employee visits and how long they stay there. However, even if your boss isn't monitoring which sites you visit, your browser is. Each browser has what's called a cache, a folder In a graphical user interface (GUI), a simulated file folder that holds data, applications and other folders. Folders were introduced on the Xerox Star, then popularized on the Macintosh and later adapted to Windows and Unix. In Unix and Linux, as well as DOS and Windows 3. that keeps snippets of information--like the Web address of each site you visit. Ostensibly os·ten·si·ble adj. Represented or appearing as such; ostensive: His ostensible purpose was charity, but his real goal was popularity. , this was done to make it easier for the browser to find the page the next time you visited and update site changes automatically. You can change this, however. If you're using Internet Explorer Microsoft's Web browser, which comes with Windows starting with Windows 98. Commonly called "IE," versions for Mac and Unix are also available. Internet Explorer is the most widely used Web browser on the market. It has also been the browser engine in AOL's Internet access software. , select Tools/Internet Options from the pull-down menu Also called a "drop-down menu" or "pop-down menu," the common type of menu used with a graphical user interface (GUI). Clicking a menu title causes the menu items to appear to drop down from that position and be displayed. . On the General tab, under Temporary Internet Files In a user's computer, a collection of the most recent Web pages and files downloaded from the Web. The files are stored in a folder that acts as a cache so that subsequent requests are retrieved from the local hard disk. , select Settings/View Files. This will show you all the Websites you've visited. You can delete those. You can also reduce the size of the cache on the same tab. Once you're done, return to the General tab, select History, and under Days to keep pages in History, type O. Then select Clear History. Internet Explorer will not keep a record in its cache folder and will keep only a history of each session. If you use Netscape, you'll find a similar feature: Edit/Preferences/Advanced/Cache. And remember: Never save your password on the company PC. If you do, anyone using that PC can easily access your e-mail. --Sonya A. Donaldson Mail your technology-related concerns to Cyberwise at BLACK ENTERPRISE, 130 Fifth Ave., New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY 10011, or send an e-mail to donaldsons@blackenterprise.com. |
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