An IT worker’s PSA about the importance of deleting your browser history at work has gone viral with over 53,000 views.
TikToker Cellini Denerio (@theceelife) posted the video this week to the social media platform and viewers seemed to resonate with it immediately.
In the video, Cellini leans in and speaks directly to the camera. “I just wanted to give y’all a tip from corporate America,” he says and explains that this is coming from someone who works in the IT department of his company.
“Please listen to me,” Cellini pleads to his viewers. “If you’re gonna search something at work, whatever it is, always do it in Incognito mode, or you know, in a private window.”
Now, there’s nothing more embarrassing than having your personal search history pop up when you least expect it to so Cellini makes an excellent point with this simple tip. But he has more important information to share.
@theceelife90 DELETE YOUR BROWSER HISTORY EVERYDAY!!!! I promise you you’ll thank me later! Better yet just look it up on your phone!! #corporate #corporatetips #corporateamerica #jobsafety #cya #worklife #corporatebaddie #informationtechnology #itdepartment #it #vlog ♬ SUMMER RENAISSANCE – Beyoncé
“Even if you do it in a private window,” he says, “delete your browser history at the end of your shift every time. Every time you clock out you need to delete your history.”
“I’m tryna save y’all because I told you I work in IT and there are certain things we can do,” the TikToker says. According to Cellini, if a company wants to know a worker’s browser history, it’s extremely easy for someone in the IT department that find that information. “It’s not that hard baby, I promise you it’s not,” he says.
Cellini ends the video by telling his followers that if they must look something up that isn’t related to work, “Just look it up on your phone. Just cut out the middle man.”
In the comments, viewers wholeheartedly agreed with Cellini. The pinned comment even warns against getting too personal on your company’s instant messenger. “Duly noted! Also as a previous manager, do not use the work IM as a personal chat/rant space. Managers can pull EVERY message sent/rcvd.”
Not only did Cellini like and pin the comment, he responded with another PSA video warning his followers of the same. “STOP USING TEAMING TO KIKI WITH YOUR WORK FRIENDS! Send them a text honey,” he said.
Another TikTok user with IT knowledge also warns that you can “delete all you want BUT your browser history is back[ed] up on a server.” This user says that “one key stroke [and] I can run a report for your management lol.”
But some users even got paranoid about using their phones for personal searches during work hours. “Can ya’ll still see our browsing history from our phones,” one asked. “I never do anything non-work related on work equipment.” Although Cellini didn’t respond directly to the question, he did like it and another user helpfully said, “I also work in IT. Do not use the company Wi-Fi on your phone. Lawd please use your own data.”
The importance of deleting your browser history at work isn’t new information and many internet security companies like Norton go as far as to suggest deleting your cookies on a regular basis too. Many users in the comments offered alternatives to using a work computer for personal internet browsing. In addition to using your phone for personal searches, some users also suggested getting a personal VPN if workers absolutely had to use the company’s Wi-Fi.
However, not everyone seemed stressed out by this information and will probably not start being diligent about deleting their browser history at work. “My IT spy knows all my business. I don’t gaf, I’ll pull up my history for them,” said one user. “Idc I’m going to keep applying for jobs on their computer lol,” said another.
The Daily Dot reached out to Cellini via TikTok comment.
