Tuesday, November 25, 2014

drag2share: Plug-in turns your browsing history into a searchable database

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/25/fetching-plug-in-browser-history/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Some apps make it easy to delete your browsing history for the sake of privacy and security. This one called Fetching, however, does the opposite: it saves a comprehensive copy of your history for years to come. What for? Well, searching random words on Google doesn't always return the results you want, and a browser's native history could be a useless jungle of websites. You can use this app to search only among websites you've browsed in the past and find that particularly interesting feature you've read or that great deal you've come across. Fetching, created by a developer named Peter Brown who works on it in his spare time alone, lives in the computer as a browser plug-in.

The service has two versions to choose from. If you use Mac, you'll have the option to save data in your own hard drive or SSD, so nobody else can access it (besides nosy family members, that is). But if you use Windows or any other platform, you'll have to make do with the cloud version for now. Both raise valid security concerns, though, as hackers could infiltrate Fetching's servers and individual Mac computers. If they get in, they'll have years' worth of browsing history all saved and ready for the taking. That said, you can always disable the plug-in and delete the data you've stored anytime you want. Plus, Fetching doesn't save anything opened in an incognito or private tab, so you may want to start using the feature if you decide to install the app.

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