teenager and deleting browsing history advice

tobejune

My best friends daughter, Sage, is 15. She babysat my son this evening and was supposed to use my computer to do some research for homework after he was asleep. Earlier today my friend and I were talking about how Sage has been really dishonest with technology related privileges to the point that she no longer is able to have her own cell phone and they don't have internet at her house and she can only access it at the library (on the kids computers which block all social media, basically).

Anyway, when I logged on to my computer after she had used it this evening I noticed the browsing history had been cleared. Weird, right? I mean, if she was doing homework and only using the sites her parents had ok-ed she wouldn't have cleared the history... or is that some sort of using someone else's computer etiquette I'm unaware of? My main question is if I should tell her mom, my best friend, or if maybe I'm reading too much into this.

I wasn't able to recover the history so I don't even know if she was doing something she's not supposed to. It just seemed weird. And now I'm thinking about it, when I pulled in the driveway, I could see her through the window and she was using my computer (it's an apple, I could see the light on the back) but when I came in the door it was turned off and put away on the shelf and she was typing on her own laptop (that is not able to access internet).

I mean, frankly, if she was just a babysitter I wouldn't think twice but it's my best friend and I know the struggles they've been having with her and computer/ phone/ internet boundaries. So... do I say something or not!?

jayche

Tell her to use incognito next time.

ScatteredThoughts

I would say something. Generally, people do not have a reason to clear the browser history unless they are hiding something. Also, depending on the equipment for the home network, there may be some web history stored on the router itself, though it is likely to not go back very far.

And if you did not give her permission to use YOUR computer, then you definitely have cause for concern.

I have fought the battle of revoking Internet access with my 14 year old son, but he is decidedly not tech savvy, and gave himself away pretty easily when he tried to get around it. :laugh:

tobejune

I was actually really surprised that she "knew" enough to delete the history to hide whatever she's hiding. I'm going to mention it to her mom. It bums me out I can't spy on what she was doing though... haha. I did give her permission to use my computer. It wasjust weird that she was pretending she didn't use it or something when I came in. Ahhh the whole bit was weird. Next time I think I'll just say no to her using internet/ my computer at my house. Too much weirdness and feeling responsible for her safety when really I can't control it.

LMT2012

Personally, I would say nothing. There's nothing to prove or disprove. Even circumstantially, it's weak, and what's the mom supposed to do with your third party suspicion? If the girl is up to no good, she'll get caught red-handed soon enough.

ScatteredThoughts

There is a lot of information out there about covering your tracks, and what some kids like to think of as "hacking". Do not underestimate what she may know, or can find out how to do from friends. I think it would be wise to honor the mother's wishes about the Internet access restriction, and simply not give that her option from your computers. It is not your problem to be involved in.

Chris99mu

Tell her to use incognito next time.

Incognito? what? hmmmm, come again??

Gotta go.....

mjhedgehog

you have an apple? I have a macbook pro (dunno if you have the same one) but did you try checking where the cookies are? she may have deleted the browsing history in the "history tab" but she might not have known enough to delete the cookies. on my computer you open a safari window-at the top of your screen next to the file button click "Safari" then "preferences" then "Show cookies" and it should have a list of websites that were visited. Thats how it is on my computer anyways, idk if would work on yours or not or if she knows enough to delete that to.