In other words, your internet surfing app alone is not giving you much privacy.
Then, we’ll discuss situations where these modes make sense and where they don’t.
They are usually calledprivate browsing mode, incognito mode, secret mode, or something along those lines.
With names like these, you might expect them to allow you to use the internet with privacy.
Unfortunately, they are not very private at all.
Erasing cookies from your web client and erasing your browsing history are fine to mitigate some tracking online.
However, many people are being misled when using “private” or “incognito” browsing.
There is currently a $5 billionlawsuit against Googlefor tracking users while in the Google Chrome incognito mode.
Google Chrome warns users about the limits of incognito mode… but is still being sued for big bucks.
Note: Google is discontinuing cookies, but will still be tracking users with a new method.
See this article onGoogle’s FLoCand the privacy issues that it entails.
Additionally, various spy agencies and anyone monitoring unencrypted traffic who can tap into the connection.
Whenever you go online, you broadcast this unique IP address to the world.
Therefore, for basic privacy, you will want tohide your IP address.
Unfortunately, incognito and private browsing modes do not hide your IP address.
And because of this, your browsing history is tied right back to your equipment.
But it gets worse.
jump in to Amazon, Facebook, or Netflix, and they will know your identity.
It doesn’t matter what web app you are browsing with.
Logging in gives them all the information they need.
The same goes for logging into any Google service.
Log into one of them and Google can track you across all of them.
(Also see this guide onalternatives to Google products.)
The gadget then may store the results of these searches in a cache.
The cache serves to speed up navigation and reduce the load on the big servers thatstore DNS data.
This data doesn’t remain there forever, which is helpful.
The problem arises when someone has access to your gear.
Until that happens, this data is available in the private window of the online window.
In fact, there are several situations where it makes sense to use them.
For the hardcore privacy cases, you will need more security and privacy muscle.
Or, it can be a surveillance and data collection tool for advertising networks.
Consequently, you will need to choose your net online gate carefully.
See our list ofsecure browsersthat protect your privacy.
We also have a good guide onFirefox privacymodifications that goes above and beyond the default parameters.
Another thing to consider isbrowser fingerprintingand how this can be used for tracking your online activities.
A high-quality VPN addresses the problems that make incognito modes vulnerable.
FromVPN kill switchesto streaming support, a VPN has many functions and uses.
We have tested and reviewed many of the top VPN services.
Our latest recommendations can be found in ourbest VPN report here.
This will vary depending on the surfing app you are using and the preferences you have enabled.
So to protect yourself against advertising networks and their invasive trackers, use agood ad blocker.
That’s because they do two things that VPNs don’t do.
They erase the cookies and the browsing history when you close a private browsing session.
It makes for a nice one-two punch.
Simply start up your VPN, then open a new incognito window and start browsing.
That said, they are fine tools for certain low-security uses.
Masthead credit:Matthew Henry
