Protect your screen from prying eyes with Panic Button from Opera GX

December 13th, 2023

Hey readers!

Ever been caught playing games when you should have been studying? Do you browse sites that you’re not proud of and don’t want anyone to see? Viewing explicit content when you should be updating the monthly sales spreadsheet? A recent study by Opera GX shows that 36% of respondents admit to accessing inappropriate content while at school or work. Browsing what your heart desires can be risky business, especially when there are prying eyes around. But with Panic Button from Opera GX, the browser for gamers, your days of getting caught could be over.

Panic Button is a new feature that acts as an indispensable defense against prying observers and unexpected drop-ins. The next time your boss suddenly returns early from lunch while you’re streaming League of Legends tournaments, you can quickly hit the F12 key and the Panic Button is activated. This quickly mutes and pauses playback from all tabs and forces open a new window of totally bland, “safe” content, keeping your secrets safe for another day. To restore all tabs to the previous state you just need to press the F12 button again.

Panic Button comes with a list of pre-installed websites that you can choose as your “safe” tab, such as YouTube, Twitch, or Wikipedia. You can also choose your own totally bland websites, such as tractor fan clubs, baby animals websites, or even stock data. To use Panic Button, all GX users need to activate the “Early Bird” option first in the settings of the browser.

Opera GX isn’t just for fast and discreet browsing. The only browser designed for gamers also features a myriad of customization options, including color themes, sound effects, background music, as well as CPU, RAM, and Network Bandwidth limiters designed to leave more of the computer’s resources for gaming.

Caught in the act

According to a recent study by Opera GX*, 36% of respondents admit to accessing inappropriate content while at school, college, or work. This content includes social media sites (61%), explicit adult material (58%), games (51%), online shopping (51%), and dating websites (36%). Almost a third (30%) of those who view inappropriate content confess to having been by their teacher or boss. Two-thirds (63%) of those people received a warning, while a quarter (22%) faced suspension or termination.

At home, almost half (45%) of respondents have been discovered by a parent, family member, or partner engaging in activities such as playing games (26%), viewing explicit content (14%), checking social media profiles of ex-partners/attractive friends (14%), visiting dating websites (13%), watching/listening to less popular bands/artists (12%), or looking up sensitive medical information (10%).

While the majority (78%) faced only embarrassment, a quarter of respondents experienced more serious consequences. Over half (55%) ended up in an argument, while a third (32%) managed to resolve the situation through conversation. However, being caught in the act resulted in a break-up or divorce for 13% of respondents.

Download Opera GX by visiting www.opera.com/gx.
*Data based on an Opera GX/Obsurvant study of 2,200 respondents across the UK/US during December 2023.