How to Clear Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Edge Web Browser Data

In this tutorial we are going to see what data is stored in our Internet browser. Although they may not seem so, they can be valuable both for cybercriminals and for companies that are dedicated to monitoring our activity and then showing us advertising. Therefore, one of the best ways we can defend ourselves is to erase all the data from the Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Edge browsers on a regular basis.

What information our internet browser saves

When we visit a website we can give information both to that page we enter and to the browser itself. One of the most used browsers today is Chrome, both at the desktop and mobile level. Like other browsers, it collects information in three different categories.

The first would be the analytics where it seeks to know the approximate location, the browsing history and the user and device identifiers. To this we would have to add the usage data, and the fault and performance diagnostics to detect problems. The second would be the personalization of the product , thanks to the approximate location, our browsing history and user or device identifier will end up showing us advertising of products in which we have been interested. The third would be the application functionality where one of the most important elements is financial information such as payment data.

In case you don’t know, any browser can currently store the following information:

• A cache with the files and images of the websites that we visit most frequently. Thus, then they will load faster.
• Cookies and other site data.
• Browsing history.
• Saving forms for self-completion.

One of the most important are cookies, and it is the one that we will deal with in greater depth. As it stores a lot of our private information, it is necessary to erase all the browser data every little time. A good time would be to do it weekly.

What is a cookie and why its theft is dangerous

A cookie is a file with information sent by a website that is stored in our browser. The objective is that this web page can consult the previous activity. For example, they indicate, among other things, that that user has visited it previously. We can say that cookies have two functions:

1. Remember access , so it remembers our tastes and shows us or not certain content. On the other hand, if a user enters their username and password, it is saved in the cookie so that they do not have to write it every time they visit that website.
2. Allow to know information regarding our browsing habits . The downside is that they can sometimes cause privacy issues.

In addition, through the use of cookies, the behavior of Internet users is tracked. This helps companies to show us more personalized ads.

Hackers know the value of a cookie and that is why they use different techniques to steal it. Cookie theft or cookie scraping is also known as session hijacking or cookie hijacking . In these types of attacks, the attacker takes over the victim’s session. The session begins when the user logs into a service, for example Internet banking, and ends when that session closes. The attack is based on the knowledge that these cybercriminals have about the users’ session cookies. Thus they use techniques such as Session Sniffing or translated, session sniffing, Session Fixation or session fixation, cross-site scripting (XSS) attack and also with malware attacks.

In this sense, with the information of the theft of cookies from the victims, you can get private information from users such as:

• Credit card details.
• Login information for different accounts.

Regarding the way in which they can take advantage of those stolen cookies, it would be:

• Selling the information on the dark web.
• Use that information for phishing.
• Using our accounts for illegal activities to obtain information by impersonating us or carrying out Phishing attacks.

For this reason, deleting all the data from the browser on a regular basis is positive.

Adware Tracking Cookie and its relationship with advertising

As for cookies, one of the elements that can most affect us in addition to theft is advertising. Here we would highlight the Adware Tracking Cookie, which we could say is a tracking type cookie that is used to obtain information about the browsing habits of users. They are usually related to advertising companies that have an agreement with a website. They do not obtain confidential information from the user, but they do collect browsing data from the websites we visit.

If an analysis of our computer detects an Adware Tracking Cookie, we should not be alarmed. However, it does not hurt that we proceed to erase all browser data, especially in this case with attention to cookies.

So you can delete all the data from the web browser

Google Chrome

The first browser that we are going to see is Google Chrome. Without a doubt, right now the most popular of the moment. To do this, we go to the upper right corner and click on the three vertical points.

On the left we click on Privacy and security and then we click on Clear browsing data .

In the Time section we select Since always, we mark the options as above and we touch the Clear data button.

Mozilla Firefox

Now we go with the Firefox browser. In this case also in the upper right corner we click on the icon of the three horizontal lines and then click on Options .

Then on the left we click on Privacy & Security and we go to the Cookies and site data section.

Next in Users and passwords we select the options that come up and click on Clear data . Then in History we will finish pressing the Clear History button and with this we have finished with Firefox.

Edge

If we want to delete all the data from the Edge browser, we go to the upper right corner, click on the selected icon in the red box and click on Settings .

The next step we have to take is to click on Settings . Next, we look on the left for Privacy, search and services, there we have to go to the Delete browsing data section and click on the button Choose what should be deleted .

In this case, in the time interval we put Always , we select the categories as in the image above and click on the Delete button now.

Opera

The last one we have left is the Opera browser. On the left in a sidebar with a gear icon we access the settings and select Advanced .

There we have to go to the Privacy and security section where we will click on Clear browsing data . Then a screen like this will appear to us:

In Time interval we choose From Always , we select all the options and click on the Clear the data button.