Can Someone See Your Internet History If You Use Their WiFi?

If you connect to someone else’s WiFi network — public or private — without taking steps to protect your privacy, the WiFi owner or network administrator can technically see all of your online activity.

This includes the web pages you visit and their URLs, your search history, the apps you’ve used, and how much time you spend on each website.

In this guide, we’ll explain what kind of information is visible to WiFi owners via the router’s logs and the WiFi bill. You’ll also learn how to delete or hide your internet activity so you can protect your privacy even on someone else’s WiFi network.

If you connect your device to someone else’s WiFi network, they can see your browsing activity and internet history on that network by checking the WiFi router’s logs.

Most modern WiFi routers collect and store important information that passes through them, called ‘logs’. This can include your device’s IP address, MAC address, the websites you visit, and timestamps of when you visited them.

This information is readily available to the network admin through the router’s admin panel.

Some routers store more information than others. Different logging features can be switched on or off depending on the ISP, the type of router, and how the router is configured.

WiFi networks with stronger security measures will often store more information about what’s taking place on the network.

For example, misuse analysis software like WireShark and OpenDNS will capture and interpret a more comprehensive range of data. This can include your downloads, which apps you use, and even the content of text messages.

While some routers will be capable of deep packet inspection (DPI), others will simply log your DNS lookups and other web traffic requests.

Home WiFi Routers Versus Corporate WiFi Networks

Different types of WiFi router will store different logs. That means the type of information the WiFi owner can see will depend on the type of WiFi network you’re using.

Home routers — like the ones provided by AT&T or Verizon — are most likely to store a limited set of logs on the WiFi router itself. This usually includes information about the websites you’ve visited (DNS requests), apps you’ve used, timestamps, and devices that you’ve used.

If you connect to someone else’s home WiFi network, they’ll be able to see all of this information about your internet history. The time these logs are kept varies, but they are generally stored for at least several weeks.

In a corporate WiFi environment, these logs may be more detailed, and it’s more likely they would be aggregated and stored on a dedicated logging server.

Free public WiFi networks will vary in terms of the logs they keep and where they store them. However, these present the most direct threat to your online privacy. Often, the WiFi is offered for free because they can store and sell your browsing data to advertisers.

Connecting to anybody else’s WiFi network poses a threat to your privacy. At home, your ISP can see everything you’re doing online, but it will be limited by local data laws and regulations.

On someone else’s network — a neighbor, small business, or employer — you don’t know what they’re logging and how they use that information.

Depending on how the router is configured, the owner of a WiFi network is capable of seeing the following details about your internet history:

As you can see, WiFi admins can potentially collect a huge amount of personal data from an unsecured WiFi network. This data can be stored on the router itself, on a dedicated server, or in the cloud, and can be accessed by the owner at any time.

Does HTTPS Affect What WiFi Admins Can See?

The websites you visit are visible to WiFi network owners because the router logs your DNS (Domain Name Servers) requests. These servers translate a website’s URL into an IP address.

For example, if you visit google.com, your device will first submit a DNS request to find the IP address associated with that domain name. If you are connected to someone else’s WiFi network, they will be able to see this request and know that you are attempting to visit Google.

However, there are some restrictions on how WiFi network owners can view your online activities.

If you’re browsing websites secured by HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure), the WiFi owner can only see the domain name of the website you visited — not the exact page or its contents.

Browsing HTTPS websites will improve your privacy to some extent. However, to hide your DNS requests from the network owner, you’ll need to add an additional layer of encryption to your connection.

Can the WiFi Owner See Your Internet History If You Use a VPN?

VPN software is explicitly designed to protect your online privacy by creating an encrypted connection between your device and a remote VPN server.

Thanks to the encrypted VPN tunnel, none of the data sent through your VPN connection can be intercepted or viewed by the network owner. For the same reasons, VPN services also hide your browsing activity from your ISP.

In the image below, we’re using packet-inspection software to analyze our web traffic while connected to Windscribe VPN. As you can see, the VPN’s encryption makes it impossible to see which websites we’d visited.

If you’re connected to a VPN server, the owner of the WiFi network cannot see your internet history, downloads, searches, or the apps you use — even if you’re browsing websites without HTTPS protection.

All the WiFi owner can see is the amount of data transmitted and that you’re connected to a VPN. They won’t be able to access specific information about your internet history.

Other encryption sources, such as secure messaging apps, can also limit the amount of data visible to WiFi owners.

For instance, if you use WhatsApp, your messages will be encrypted, making it impossible for the WiFi owner to read them.

However, since they can see the DNS (Domain Name System) request, they will know that you’re using WhatsApp and how much data is being transmitted — unless you use a VPN.

Browsing in incognito mode will not prevent the owner of a WiFi network from seeing your online activities. Similarly, manually deleting the history from your browser will not delete it from the WiFi router’s logs.

Incognito mode and other private browsing options prevent cookies and other data from being stored on your device. However, they don’t encrypt your data, so it’s still stored on the WiFi router’s logs and is visible to your ISP.

Google Chrome’s incognito mode disclaimer, pictured above, highlights the fact that local browsing information won’t be stored by your browser when you use incognito mode — but your employer, school, or ISP may still be able to see your activity.

Even Firefox’s Private Mode also clearly states that: “…private browsing does not make you anonymous on the Internet. Your Internet service provider, employer, or the sites themselves can still gather information about pages you visit”.

While Firefox’s private browsing mode may protect you from browser fingerprinting, third-party cookies, and telemetry — making it our choice for the best private browser — it won’t hide your internet activity from WiFi admins.

The information your employer can see when you’re working from home depends on a number of factors, including:

There are three scenarios to consider:

1. The Device and Network Belong to Your Employer

If you are using a device that belongs to your employer, and you’re connecting through a remote access VPN, your employer will almost certainly have access to your browsing history.

This is because they have control over the device and network you’re using. It’s essentially the same as connecting to the WiFi network when physically working on company property.

Your employer may also install monitoring software on your company-owned device or network, which can track and record online activity including your keystrokes, screenshots, and website visits.

2. The Device Belongs to Your Employer, But Not the Network

If you’re using a company device but connecting to your home WiFi network, your employer cannot see your browsing history through the network’s logs or any network-level monitoring software.

However, they may still have monitoring software installed on the device itself, and they may also look at your local browsing history if they have physical access to the device.

3. The Device and Network Belong to You

If you’re working from a personal device and using your own home WiFi network, your employer won’t have access to your browsing history unless you’re connected to the company VPN.

In this case, both your device and the network belong to you, and your employer has permissions for neither.

The exact method for clearing history and logs on a WiFi router will vary depending on the make and model of your router.

Another option is to factory reset your router, which will erase all data and settings on the device. This should only be done as a last resort, as it will reset any other custom settings or configurations you have made on your router.

Every router model will be different, so it’s best to consult your router’s manual or contact the manufacturer for specific instructions.

We’ve covered how WiFi owners, schools, and employers can access your browsing history. However, there are a range of other third parties that can see your internet history, including:

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Your ISP provides your connection to the internet and all the data that passes through it. This means they can access your browsing history and track your online activity. Exactly how much data your ISP collects depends on the country you are in and their specific privacy policies.

This is true for both home WiFi networks and mobile data networks. If you’re using mobile data, your ISP can technically see everything you do online unless you add a layer of encryption.

In the US, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has recently spoken out against big ISPs — such as Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and Google Fiber — for the amount of customer data they collect, the lack of disclosure about data collection, and the lack of options for consumers to opt-out.

The data collected that the FTC singled out as “troubling” included browsing history and app usage.

Government Agencies

Government agencies or law enforcement may be able to track your internet history. This is often through legal means, such as obtaining a warrant for accessing specific user data from an ISP.

For example, the controversial USA PATRIOT Act has provisions that allow government agencies in the US to access browsing history and other internet activity information without notifying or obtaining permission from the individual being monitored.

Search Engines

Popular search engines like Google track a considerable amount of internet activity through users’ searches and usage of other Google-owned services like Gmail, YouTube, and Google Maps.

Google also uses cookies to track user activity on other websites, which can then be used to target ads and personalize search results. Other popular search engines like Bing and Yahoo also track user activity.

Concern about search engines tracking user data has led to the development of privacy-centric search engines like DuckDuckGo, which claims not to track or store user data.

Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram collect vast amounts of user data for targeted advertising and other purposes. This can include tracking user browsing history through social media plugins embedded in websites.