Whether you browse the Web with a computer or with your Droid 2, there are potential security and privacy dangers out there—cookies, pop-ups, and malicious websites. The Droid 2 browser, just like its big brother browsers on computers, includes the tools you need to keep you safe and protect your privacy when you browse the Web.
What’s top on your list of web annoyances? Most likely at the pinnacle are pop-ups and pop-unders—ugly little windows and ads that either take an in-your-face stance by popping up over your browser so that you have to pay attention, or pop under your browser so that you don’t notice they’re there until you close a browser window, and then demand your attention.
Sometimes these pop-ups and pop-unders are malicious, and if you tap them they attempt to install dangerous software or send you to a malicious website. Sometimes they’re merely annoying ads. Sometimes, though, they may actually be useful, like a pop-up that shows a seating chart when you’re visiting a ticket-buying site. The Droid 2 browser includes a pop-up blocker, and like all pop-up blockers it can’t necessarily distinguish between bad pop-ups and pop-unders and good ones, so it blocks them all.
However, if you’re on a website that uses pop-ups that you want to see, you can turn off the pop-up blocker. Press the Menu key, select More→Settings, and then tap the green checkbox next to “Block pop-up windows”. When you leave the site and want pop-ups blocked again, go back to the setting and tap it to turn it on. The green checkmark will reappear next to the setting, and you’ll be protected.
Cookies are tiny bits of information that some websites store on the Droid 2 for future use. When you register for a website and create a user name and password, the website can store that information in a cookie so you don’t have to retype it every time. Cookies can also remember your habits and preferences when you use a website—your favorite shipping method, or what kinds of news articles you’re likely to read.
But not all cookies are innocuous, since they can also track your web browsing from multiple sites and potentially invade your privacy.
The Droid 2 browser gives you control over how you handle cookies—you can either accept them, or tell the browser to reject them. Keep in mind that if you don’t allow cookies on your Droid 2, you may not be able to take advantage of the features on many sites.
To bar websites from putting cookies on your Droid 2, when you’re in the browser, press the Menu key, select More→Settings, and scroll down to the Privacy Settings section. Tap the green checkbox next to “Accept cookies”. The checkmark disappears, and from now on, no cookies will be put on your Droid 2. You can always turn this setting back on again, if it causes problems with web browsing.
While you’re in Privacy Settings, you can also delete all the cookies that have been put on your Droid 2 so far. Tap “Clear all cookie data”. You get a warning that you’re about to delete your cookies. Tap OK to clear them, or Cancel if you change your mind.
There’s more you can do in the Privacy section of the browser’s settings screen to make sure your privacy isn’t invaded. For example, you can clear your browsing history so that others who use the browser can’t see where you’ve been.
You can also tap “Clear cache” to clean out website information your browser has stored on your Droid 2. A cache is information the browser stored on your Droid 2 so it won’t have to get that information from the Web the next time you visit that site. The cache speeds up browsing, since it’s faster to grab the information—a website image, for example—from your Droid 2 than from the Web. Tap “Clear cache” if you want to clear all that information out, if you worry that the information there poses a privacy risk.
At many websites, you log in by typing a user name and password, and other information such as your address. The Droid 2 browser remembers those user names, passwords, and other information, and fills them in for you automatically when you next visit. That’s convenient, but it also presents a privacy risk, because someone else using your Droid 2 can log in as you.
If that concerns you, there are two actions you can take. First, in the Privacy section, tap the green checkmark next to “Remember form data”. When you turn it off, the browser won’t remember user names, passwords, and other information you type into forms. You can always turn it on again. To delete all the information already stored on your Droid 2, tap “Clear form data”. Next, scroll down to the Security Settings area and turn off the checkbox next to “Remember passwords”. To clear out saved passwords, tap “Clear passwords”.