In the modern world, privacy is becoming harder and harder to come by. Therefore, if you have a roommate and are connected to the same network, it’s only natural to wonder how much of your information is accessible to them. By any means, can your roommate see what you’re doing online and is there any way to protect your privacy?
If you’re connected to the same network as your roommate, they could potentially be viewing the sites you visit. They can do this by accessing the dns server that logs all the sites you visit, tracking your computer, or simply knowing your password and using it when you’re not home.
If you’d like to know how to better guard your privacy online, this is for you. We’ll break down the most common ways someone could gain access to your online information and then provide you with strategies to prevent that from happening. The road to online privacy begins here. So come along and never have to look over your shoulder again.
Can My Roommate Pull Up My Browser History?
The short answer is yes, technically they can. However, the long answer is that unless they have expertise and way too much time on their hands, they probably won’t. But let’s imagine they do have those things. How would they go about pulling up your browser history?
There are a number of ways someone can access your browser history and check out your online activity–as you’ll see in the examples outlined below.
Roommate Has Direct Access to Your Computer and Passwords
Let’s get the simplest method out of the way first. If your roommate has access to your computer when you’re not at home and they have your passwords, they can obviously go in and check your browser history or whatever else you might have.
Further, if your password is simple enough, there are methods they can use to crack it and get into your account. Also, if you keep your password written down somewhere and you leave it at home, they could simply have found it. If that’s the case, you probably just need a new roommate. Still, that transition can take a while, so what do you do in the meantime?
Picking a Strong Password
The best way to stop your roommate from logging into your computer with your password is through prevention. Make sure you have a strong password that isn’t easy to crack and if you write it down, make sure you put what you wrote in a secure place.
The following tips will keep your computer secure from direct access in the vast majority of cases.
- Keep any password you’ve written down in a secure place. Don’t put them on a sticky note right next to your computer.
- Avoid passwords with a precise sequence of numbers or letters. For example, never make your password something like ABC123. As much as we all love that song, it makes for a terrible password because it is easy to guess.
- Make a password that includes both capital and lowercase letters as well as symbols. Symbols are things like #, &, or %.
- Use the Sentence method if it works for you. This popular method of creating a password is simple but effective. Essentially, you can take any random sentence, and then decide a rule you will use to alter each word in it as your password.
- For example, you could take the sentence, “I need a better password,” and decide you will get rid of the third letter from each word and capitalize the last three with a symbol at the end. Your password would read “inedabeterpaswORD!”
Managing Your Browser History
While it’s not foolproof, you can avoid the spying eyes of less tech savvy roommate by ensuring you manage your browser history.
Doing each of the following will help you manage your browser history and make it less likely someone will access your browser information directly through your computer.
- Use incognito mode: This will allow you to surf the web without creating a history directly in your browser. Still, keep in mind that a person could potentially get around this by checking the server for unencrypted information. See the next section to get around that problem.
- Clear your browser history regularly: In browsers like Google Chrome, you can set them to clear the browser history regularly. This is a good idea if you’re worried about someone who is less tech savvy accessing your accounts directly from your computer.
- Clear your DNS cache: The DNS cache stores information from every site you visit, so you can more readily connect to it in the future. Clearing this can help erase some of the footprints you’ve left behind directly on your computer.
Your Roommate Could Access Your Browsing History Remotely
Now-a-day’s a person doesn’t even need to physically log into your computer to see what sites you’ve been visiting. Instead they just need access to the server, which stores all of the data you generate visiting different sites on the net.
If you share both a router and modem and your roommate has access to the admin account, they could at the very least see the addresses of what sites you are visiting. They do this by accessing the DNS server. You can think of this as the place where your online footprints get left behind (assuming the sites you’re looking at aren’t encrypted).
Guarding Your Online Privacy With a VPN
The fastest and easiest way to make sure that your browsing habits remain private, is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). They essentially mask the identity of sites you visit, encrypting them and making them unreadable to wandering eyes.
This will not only protect you from the prying eyes of your roommate, but it will also protect you from having your ISP (Internet Service Provider) sell your browsing data. In practicality, this means less creepy advertisements that are hyper specific to whatever you’ve been Googling lately.
What are Some Good VPN Services?
There are several reputable VPN Services to choose from. Avoid free ones, as they are slow and lack key features. My favorite service is NordVPN; it is full featured service at a truly great price. NordVPN often runs specials and reducing pricing on their service, click here to check NordVPN current offering.
Can My Roommate Read My Emails or Messages?
To this point, we’ve mostly covered the ways your roommate can see what sites you’ve visited. Still, you may wonder if they can go one step further and find and read all of the Emails or messages you have sent.
Generally speaking, email services are encrypted. Meaning they may not even be able to see the site you use for email in the first place. They would just know that you visited a site. They certainly couldn’t read your emails with just that information.
Instead, the main way someone would hack your email is by stealing your username and password. If you apply the same tips we outlined for creating a strong computer password; you should be all set.
So, Can My Roommate Really See What I Do Online?
If you do not take the proper precautions, your roommate could potentially see what you’re doing online. They could do this by either accessing your computer directly, using your passwords or they could do it remotely through the footprint you leave behind when surfing the web.
To prevent this from happening you should take two simple actions. First, ensure that all of your passwords are secure and robust. This will make it much harder to guess or discover through an algorithm. The second thing you should do is start using a VPN. With a VPN service, such as NordVPN, your data is not accessible to your roommate or even your ISP. Good luck, and happy browsing. Privately.
Wait!! You Can Do Much More to Secure Your Computer.
By securing your internet access, you are on the right track. Most thieves and crooks do not come through your front door, but your computer screen. Cybercrime is the main danger in the 21st century. I can help make your computer a fortress! Check out SecureHomeHero’s Ultimate Layman’s Guide to Online and Computer Security.