Are you expecting to have complete privacy when y'all enable incognito mode or private browsing inside your web browser? Call up once again.

Even if y'all are using a secure browser and enabling either incognito mode or individual browsing, you are probably still getting tracked when yous become online. In other words, your internet browser alone is not giving you much privacy.

Editor's Note:
Guest author Heinrich Long is the editor backside Restore Privacy, a web log dedicated to inform nigh best online privacy practices, secure your electronic devices, unblock restricted content and defeat censorship.

In this commodity, we're going to have a quick walk through all the internal and external flaws of these "privacy" modes that web browsers include. Then, we'll discuss situations where these modes brand sense and where they don't. Finally, nosotros'll wrap up with some advice on how to get real privacy when using your favorite web browser.

Why private browsing and incognito modes aren't plenty

Well-nigh all web browsers at present offer some kind of enhanced privacy manner. They are normally called individual browsing mode, incognito mode, secret fashion, or something forth those lines. With names like these, y'all might expect them to allow you to use the cyberspace with privacy.

Unfortunately, they are not very individual at all. While there are variations in the way each spider web browser implements its own style, the principal office of these modes is twofold:

  • Erase cookies from your browser
  • Erase your browsing history from your browser

They do a good job of this – simply information technology takes a lot more to make your web browsing private. Erasing cookies from your browser and erasing your browsing history are fine to mitigate some tracking online. However, many people are beingness misled when using "private" or "incognito" browsing. But ask Google.

Google sued for tracking "incognito" Chrome users.

And while the average user thinks that incognito offers tangible protection, the browser companies seem to see things differently. There is currently a $5 billion lawsuit against Google for tracking users while in the Google Chrome incognito style.

Google Chrome warns users near the limits of incognito mode… but is still existence sued for large bucks.

Note: Google is discontinuing cookies, but will nevertheless be tracking users with a new method. See this article on Google's FLoC and the privacy bug that information technology entails.

Depending on the browser you are using, in well-nigh cases, files you download, and bookmarks you save will not exist deleted when you lot close the incognito window.

Another trouble is that your browser is not the merely place where your browsing history could be seen. Your net service provider (ISP) tin yet see everything you are doing online, and they can pass this information forth to anyone that asks for it. This also applies to your network administrator, which could be concerning on a work or school network. Additionally, diverse spy agencies and anyone monitoring unencrypted traffic who tin can tap into the connectedness.

Individual browsing and incognito modes do non hide your IP address

Every device that connects to the internet has a unique IP address, which also reveals your location. Whenever you get online, you broadcast this unique IP address to the world. Therefore, for basic privacy, y'all volition want to hide your IP address.

Unfortunately, incognito and private browsing modes do not hide your IP address. And considering of this, your browsing history is tied right dorsum to your device. This information is pretty well known these days, which is why almost people hide their IP address when going online. But it gets worse.

Less well-known individual browsing bug

Beyond the problems we've just covered, it turns out that in that location are several other ways that your "private" browsing information can exist found outside of the control of your spider web browser. Hither'due south a quick summary:

Logging in to a service

Yous probably already know this, but a surprising number of people still don't make the connection. If you lot log into a website or service, even in incognito mode, they of course volition know who you are. Log in to Amazon, Facebook, or Netflix, and they will know your identity. Information technology doesn't thing what browser yous are browsing with. Logging in gives them all the information they need.

The same goes for logging into whatever Google service. Log into one of them and Google can track you beyond all of them. (Also meet this guide on alternatives to Google products.)

Leaving traces in your DNS cache

When you visit a website, your device does a DNS search to look up the proper address. The device then may shop the results of these searches in a cache. The cache serves to speed up navigation and reduce the load on the big servers that store DNS data. This data doesn't remain there forever, which is helpful. Each device has a TTL setting (Fourth dimension To Live) that controls how long data is preserved in the cache earlier existence deleted.

The trouble arises when someone has admission to your device. With the right skills (it isn't too hard), and access to your device, a bad guy tin get admission to the DNS enshroud and see all the sites you have visited.

Staying in private fashion likewise long

It might audio counterintuitive, but y'all don't desire to stay in your browser's privacy mode for too long. Why? Recollect that these modes work by deleting your browsing history and cookies when you log out of the incognito window.

Until that happens, this data is available in the private window of the browser. To mitigate this problem, information technology makes sense to shut the window and open a new one every then oft.

When private browsing modes make sense

Given all the means that individual browsing modes are compromised, it might seem like they are useless. In fact, there are several situations where information technology makes sense to utilise them. Here are some examples:

  • When yous are using someone else'southward device. By using a private browsing mode you can forestall your browsing history and cookies from getting mixed up with the other person's.
  • When you are gift shopping on the family computer. You don't want a record of your souvenir shopping to remain on the computer or influence the ads that announced, possibly giving away the surprise.
  • When you are researching a medical consequence or other individual topics. Researching in a private browsing mode (and closing the incognito window afterwards) could forestall embarrassing or confidential information from beingness exposed to the next person who uses the device.

Going across incognito or private browsing modes

Nosotros've just looked at some situations where private browsing / incognito modes tin be useful. But none of those apply cases requires keeping technically sophisticated snoops at bay, or preventing the websites you visit from seeing your IP address (thus identifying the device you are using). For the hardcore privacy cases, you will need more than security and privacy muscle.

Use a secure browser that protects your privacy

A browser can exist a proficient tool to browse the web with privacy. Or, it tin exist a surveillance and data collection tool for advertising networks. Consequently, yous volition need to choose your browser carefully. Run across our listing of secure browsers that protect your privacy.

We besides take a good guide on Firefox privacy modifications that goes higher up and beyond the default settings. Another thing to consider is browser fingerprinting and how this can be used for tracking your online activities.

Utilize a VPN (virtual individual network)

Another of import privacy tool is a VPN, which stands for virtual private network. A loftier-quality VPN addresses the problems that brand incognito modes vulnerable. A VPN:

  • Creates an encrypted tunnel through the internet. This keeps snoops from violating your privacy by intercepting the traffic flowing between your device and the internet.
  • Encrypts your DNS searches. Instead of using the DNS your Internet Service Provider runs, the VPN encrypts your DNS searches and sends them to their ain secure DNS. That means your Internet access provider can't use those searches to tape where you go on the internet, and there's no DNS cache on your device for anyone to hack into either.
  • Hides your IP address from the sites you visit. The VPN substitutes one of its ain IP addresses for yours. These IP addresses are shared by many people, instead of being uniquely assigned to you. And so the websites you lot visit can record what pages you lot visit, just they won't know who that record applies to. All they'll know is that someone used a VPN to visit their site.
  • Provides protection against trackers and malvertising attacks that could give hostile entities directly access to your device and obliterating any privacy steps yous might take. Some even include VPN ad blockers that can block malware domains, trackers, ads, and more.

Navigating the world of VPNs can be challenging, simply because in that location is a lot of information out there on the topic. From VPN kill switches to 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 our best VPN report here.

Use an ad blocker

Even with private browsing and incognito modes enabled, ads and trackers may notwithstanding be loading on your browser. This volition vary depending on the browser you are using and the preferences y'all have enabled. So to protect yourself against advertising networks and their invasive trackers, use a good ad blocker.

Where private browsing modes shine

Interestingly, those incognito and individual browsing modes really shine when used together with a VPN. That's because they exercise two things that VPNs don't do.

They erase the cookies and the browsing history when you close a private browsing session. And so while the VPN protects your privacy from the device out to the internet, the private style features protect your privacy within the device. It makes for a prissy one-two punch. But start up your VPN, so open a new incognito window and start browsing.

Wrap Upwards

While incognito fashion, individual browsing manner, and all the other "privacy" modes built into today's web browsers take their identify, they are nowhere near as individual every bit they seem and they won't allow you to surf the spider web incognito.

That said, they are fine tools for certain low-security uses. And if you lot really want to browse privately, combine private browsing style with a strong VPN for comprehensive protection. Knowing when to use them (and when not to) puts you mode ahead of nearly cyberspace users when it comes to protecting your privacy online.

Masthead credit: Matthew Henry