Contents
Trends have figured out whether it is enough to simply turn on the safe browsing mode to maintain privacy and not “inherit” in the digital space
What is incognito mode for?
Safe Browsing is available in every browser: Incognito in Chrome, InPrivate in Edge, Private Browsing in Safari, Private Browsing in Firefox. The principle of its work is the same everywhere: as soon as you close the tab, your browser forgets that this Internet surfing session existed.
Incognito mode does not save:
- history of search queries;
- history of visited sites;
- the data you entered into the forms;
- new passwords for autofill;
- cookies;
- cache and temporary site files.
In private browsing mode, downloaded files remain on the device but do not appear in the downloads panel.
A similar effect can be achieved without using incognito mode: it is enough to manually clear the browsing history, cache and cookies.
The functionality of the safe browsing mode is enough to prevent other users of the device from seeing what you were doing on the Internet. This is useful when you need to find information on a sensitive topic, such as health, so that it doesn’t show up in your search history. Sometimes incognito mode is used to bypass the limits on the amount of available content on paywall sites if the site does not recognize the user as having visited before.
Can incognito mode provide privacy?
For those who use the device after you, yes. But not for the site, the Internet provider, and in general anyone who can access data about your IP address.
Some browsers, such as Chrome and Firefox, warn that incognito mode only protects a small amount of information. Despite this, many users believe that incognito means complete anonymity.
In 2017, the search company DuckDuckGo researched how people perceive and use Safe Browsing. It turned out that about 76% of those surveyed among those who turn on incognito mode cannot accurately describe what kind of data it protects. Within this group, 66% overestimate the degree of privacy that incognito provides.
The most common misconceptions according to survey results:
- In incognito mode, sites cannot track user activities.
- Incognito mode prevents sites from picking up targeted ads.
- In incognito mode, search engines cannot track user queries.
In addition, if you log in to a frequently visited service, such as Google or Twitter, while in Safe Browsing, your activities on these sites will no longer be anonymous: Google will link search queries to your account, and cookies and temporary data will link your profiles and accounts as long as the session is active.
Even without authorization, the sites you visit in incognito mode can collect information about you: device type, IP address, browser. The site can determine the approximate location, combine private sessions made from one computer, identify a registered user with an unregistered one.
The provider, the owner of the local network or the employer will have access to the history of visits – in secret, watching a video with cats at the workplace will not work.
Incognito mode does not protect against malware, scams, hacks, or data leaks. Leaks can be caused by software bugs and even browser extensions.
Is it even possible to be anonymous on the Internet?
Yes, it is possible with a VPN. A virtual private network encrypts your IP address, hiding it from your ISP and other third parties and services. Thus, the sites you visit do not know who you are and where you are, and attackers cannot decrypt and get your data without a key that is only on your device and the VPN provider.