Privacy Watch: Privacy in a Very Small Package

These days, almost every store that sells PCs has a section dedicated to the newest must-have gadget: those ubiquitous keychain-size USB storage devices that can hold from 16MB to 2GB of data. But USB drives are more than a storage phenomenon. The tiny devices can enhance your privacy as well.

For example, if you want to keep your e-mail messages on a shared computer away from prying eyes, you can install and run your e-mail application on a USB drive and store all its mail folders there, making it a cinch to secure all your correspondence when you go.

Or you can use privacy-enhancing software installed on a USB drive to make the applications you use on your desktop more private. Imagine LAN came out with one of the first of these programs, the $19 P.I. Protector (no, Magnum isn't involved--the P.I. in this case stands for Personal Information).

The application routes Internet Explorer's cookies, its history and favorites files, and even the browser's cache onto your USB drive, ensuring that no one can look at your Web-browsing history without having access to your USB drive. You simply pop in your drive and run the P.I. Protector program.

USBDrive Professional sells a suite of four applications, some with very direct uses in protecting your privacy. The apps raise the price of USBDrive devices by $20.

One of the programs, USB Secure ZIP, encrypts and compresses documents. USB Lock turns the drive itself into a key. When you remove the drive, the software locks down your PC for a period ranging from 10 minutes to 24 hours, which is helpful if you have sensitive documents on a work computer. The only way to unlock the computer before the time limit expires is to put the same USBDrive device back in place. Finally, USB Mail imports your PC's default e-mail client settings and gives you a basic, password-protected user interface to your e-mail in-box.

With the exception of USB Mail, whose interface is a little too spare for most users, all these programs are useful, and they provide powerful privacy protection that fits in the palm of your hand.