How long do internet providers keep history?
Internet users take all kinds of privacy precautions when using the internet. Despite this, it is hard to keep your internet provider completely unaware of your online moves.
Though an internet provider does not sit behind a desk watching every click you make every time you access the internet; they store your browsing history on their systems. Internet service providers in different countries keep browsing histories for different durations. Many internet service providers store this information for six months or even a few years. Here is more!
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Why do internet service providers keep people’s browsing history?
Many internet service providers have different reasons why they hold on to people browsing histories for some time. For some wifi providers, your browsing history can be a revenue stream. They can, for instance, sell your data to agencies that pay them cash in exchange.
If, for instance, an advertising agency wants to market a particular product to you, your wifi provider may give them information regarding your preferences based on what you search for. Since all this information is available on your browsing history, the wifi provider ends up making money from your online activities.
Governments also use internet service providers to find out information regarding particular people. Monitoring the online activities of internet users can help them catch people engaging in illegal activities such as terrorists. Specific organizations, such as the Department of Justice, have the power to ask for browsing history from your ISP.
Since you cannot completely access the internet without the help of your wifi provider, you can take measures that prevent them from accessing your browsing history. Doing this can prevent them from using your data for commercial reasons or sharing it with government agencies.
What type of data do internet providers collect, and for how long do they hold on to it?
When you visit particular websites, your internet service provider can see the sites you are on. This kind of information leaks through different channels, such as the IP address of the specific websites you visit.Every internet service provider has a policy regarding how much of this type of data it can log. The policy also states how long the ISP should continue keeping track of this kind of data.
Since most of the websites have TLS encryption, the data the ISP will collect include the name of the specific sites you frequently visit. ISP classifies this type of data under telecommunications metadata. Apart from that, your internet provider can also focus on web tracking data. In this case, the ISP will follow you around and check how you use the internet. It then builds up a particular profile of your history. The ISP can then monetize this information in different ways.
Your ISP will check the exact web pages that you frequent. Every website you visit online keeps an extensive log of what you do, including the links you click. Search engines also record the search terms you use. Apart from that, specific sites also have analytic systems that can also record your history. Your internet service provider can easily gather all this information.
Though the browsing history on your laptop may not be accessed directly, browsers have a sync feature that facilitates the sharing of your browser history between the computer and your smartphone. All this information is stored on the ISP’s server and can easily be accessed.
No federal law states how long the internet providers in a country should keep people’s browsing histories. Thus, internet service providers in different countries decide for how long they wish to hold on to people’s browsing histories. In most cases, ISPs hold on to people’s browsing histories for at least six months.
If a person is, however, being investigated by law enforcers and is on the run, the internet service provider can hold on to their browsing history for longer to help the police catch them. In the US, internet service providers retain emails for a couple of years. Even if you delete the emails from your side, they may still be present in the ISP’s servers for several years.
A summary of the forms of data that internet providers collect
Telecommunications data |
This involves your ISP looking at the specific sites you visit and keeping track of this information for some time. |
Web tracking data |
ISPs use trackers to look at the specific web pages that you visit and use this data to monetize it differently. |
Website data |
Every time you visit a site, the ISP keeps a log of every activity you do on it, including the search terms you enter and the links you click on |
Browser sync data |
Browsers have a sync feature that enables the transfer of your browsing history between devices. This information is later stored in the ISP’s servers. |
Conclusion
As data breaches keep on being reported each day, many internet users now take online protection more seriously. Even if you keep on deleting your browsing history, there is a high chance that this data will be stored elsewhere, especially if you are not using systems such as VPN. The internet service provider can quickly check your browsing history if you don’t use such networks.
It can hold on to your browsing history for some time. The duration that ISPs hold on to people’s history is not the same since each wifi provider has a unique policy. Most of the ISPs hold on to their clients’ browsing histories for six months or even a couple of years.
FAQs
Can I recover my deleted internet history?
Yes. If you delete your browsing history and would like to recover it, you can do this through your Google Account. On bookmarks, you can see a list of what Google records from your browsing activity.
How can I hide my browsing history from my internet provider?
You can use different systems such as Tor or VPN, to block ISP tracking. You should also consider changing your search engine.