Most of us will be so familiar with Incognito Mode, either through mobile phones or our PCs. We use them to be anonymous on the web. But is it really 100% anonymous? how safe is incognito really for anonymous browsing? Let’s Find Out.
What is incognito Mode?
Incognito mode is really useful for a variety of reasons. It is a feature built into most modern browsers, and it instructs the websites not to trach the data of users, as well as delete all the cookies, session and local storage of every website the user used in a session when the session ends. Every browser implements it in a different way, But most of them share the above key features.
As no data are stored in the local storage, Usual tracing methods such as storing cookies do not work well with incognito mode, hence we are exempted from a large number of tracking services filled on the web. this means that our private search and browsing history won’t mostly inspire the recommendation of adsorption.
Is it Really Safe?
Just as explained in the above paragraph, the browser does not store any data locally, and it does instruct websites not to store their data too. But the decision as to whether to keep track of users through other methods or not is entirely dependent upon the websites. Websites such as Google, its other products such as youtube and Gmail, Twitter, Reddit, Quora etc does not store any data once incognito is on, But many other websites do try to keep track of you even f the browser tells them not to.
They use multiple methods to do so, including storing your Ip in a database. even if we use incognito mode, the hardware details such as our IP address, OS, device name etc are still visible to websites. apart from the websites we visit, Our ISP ( Internet Service Provider ) can also view our browsing data, as all the requests are forwarded through their database.
So the answer to the question is mixed, If you just want to simple solution for partial anonymity, incognito is just enough. But as there are still ways for websites and others to track you. So if you need a higher level of security and protection when using the internet, Incognito might not be sufficient for you.
Alternatives to incognito mode
VPN
The Most used and easy alternative to incognito mode is Using a VPN. a VPN (a virtual private network ) acts as an intermediate gate between you and the website. To explain in Oversimplified terms, a VPN will send your request as its own to a website, and then sent back the response to our computer. Here the website cannot get any hardware address ( normally ) of Our PC, but rather of the VPN we are using.
So the user will still get the data, while not giving enough details to track you. Moreover, The IP address of the VPN connection will also change every time you connect to the network, so they cannot identify that way either. It comes with additional benefits too, such as
- getting a better version of websites ( Many websites provide two types of user policies one for EU and other western countries, and the other for developing nations, where data policies are not , mature yet.check out this post for example and evidence
- accessing content banned or unavailable in your region due to political or economical reasons can be viwed using a VPN, as the streaming service/ website will think the user is from a country the VPN is situated.
- Avoid tracking by government , ISPs etc
Using TOR Browser
Tor is a Browser designed to provide maximum anonymity on the web. People generally use the word TOR synonymous with the Darknet. But besides being able to browse the Darknet, it comes with a large number of advanced features to help its users protect their data, and browse the net anonymously.it is not the simplest of a process to get it working, not the browser is fun to use. for beginners, this might seem too complicated, and lack many features that normal web browsers provide. it might even break the functionality of websites, as it blocks a number of third party codes from running. only use them if you really need the best anonymity possible.
Related: How to set up windows 11 on your new PC or Laptop for the best possible performance?