This is a going back to the basics post, but the private data you allow your Internet browser to save is an important topic.

Today my browser was acting up.  So, I decided to completely uninstall it and start from scratch.  I knew that one of the things that I would have to tackle is remembering passwords and usernames for several sites that I have registered for that I allowed my browser to simply remember for me so that I didn't have to enter this information in every time I visited the sites.  Fortunately, either I remembered this information or could find it in e-mails.

However, I've been thinking about what kind of price I pay for this convenience.  First, since browsers take care of the usernames and passwords, I don't have to think about them that much, and on occasions like these that leaves me scratching my head as I remember or dig for that information.  Second, sometimes browsers will incorrectly try to place a username and password from one site — or older ones — into another when you login, and that's annoying since you have to wrestle with your browser to not make things so convenient for you. 

I think that it is important every once in a while to do things the hard way and not allow the browser to take care of usernames and passwords for you so that you can remember them better.  Also, at times like these, it is worth questioning if you want your browser to remember such information for every site that you use. 

Does anyone refuse to allow browsers to store such information?  If so, why?

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