The company that erases you online when you die: Bizarre site replaces your questionable browsing history with a clean slate after your death

Whether it’s a brutal search for pub quiz answers or a look at X-rated content, many of us have Googled things we’re not proud of.

But one company is on a mission to rid us of these worries once and for all, with a tool that erases your browsing history after you die.

Norway-based Opera GX claims its new feature swaps questionable activity with a series of more virtuous searches to wipe your slate clean after death.

“How to build a birdhouse” and “local volunteer opportunities” are among the countless more sanitized URLs you can choose from to replace your real online past.

“In life there are no rescues, respawns or checkpoints – anything can happen,” says product director Maciej Kocemba.

“If so, what will you be remembered for? The Lara Croft body pillow you ordered online?

“With ‘Fake My History’ we wipe the slate clean and replace your scandalous digital tricks with a completely fake version of your browsing history.”

Opera GX is a web browser aimed primarily at gamers, with Discord and Twitch in the sidebar.

The search feature can be installed on both Windows and Apple computers, with users then able to sign up for ‘Fake My History’.

This afterlife feature kicks in after 14 consecutive days of inactivity in the browser, with searches then replaced with a fake list.

Crafted searches are carefully selected from a set of predefined URLs and often relate to charity work and ‘responsible’ living.

Although the URL list is quite extensive, some of them can be reused if the search history is exceptionally long.

Opera GX claims this adds to the realism as users generally visit their favorite websites more than once.

A spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Fake My History is an opt-in feature as we don’t want to forcibly delete the history of someone who has just had a two-week break.

“Once you sign in, the feature will clean your history and replace it with a rosy history after two weeks of inactivity.

“If you’re feeling a little impatient, you can click ‘Pretend I’m already dead,’ which will immediately replace your browser history with a new, curated one.”

Although ironic, the feature comes at a time when more than a third of Brits have admitted to snooping on their partner’s devices.

Online privacy is also at the center of the debate, amid continued reports of cybercrime and scams.

Importantly, however, Fake My History emphasizes that its tool cannot be used to conceal crimes.

‘We need to distinguish between browsing history and search history. Fake My History replaces your browsing history, not your search history,” the spokesperson continued.

‘Browsing history is a list of the websites you actually visit via your browser.

‘This information is stored locally on your device as you browse and remains there until you decide to delete it.

“Some users clear it regularly, some never, and some clear it every time they close the browser. In fact, regularly clearing your browsing history is a recommended privacy and security practice across all browsers.”

Jake Moore, a cybersecurity expert at ESET, also told MailOnline that it’s crucial to think about your own online footprint.

“Any feature that helps protect privacy in any form is a step in the right direction. People should always consider their online footprint,” he said.

‘However, deleting data is not as forensically responsible as not having the information written, because deleted data is not quickly overwritten and remains on the hard drive in a slightly different form.’

To try out Fake My History, you’ll first need to install Opera GX and get it up and running.

Then click on the clock symbol in the left column, which will take you to the ‘History’ page.

Here, ‘Save My Soul’ can be selected, which gives you the chance to ‘Activate’ Fake My History.

A little check mark will also say, “Pretend I’m already dead,” if you want to seem holier than thou before you kick the bucket.

Once activated, the made-up URLs come in and replace all previously dirty searches.

“Again, the feature is definitely a little Easter egg for our users, a joke about how varied and diverse our online activities are these days, but also what the time we spend online says about us,” the spokesperson added.