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Digital Security: Incognito Mode

Say you’re doing a search for something like how to take down white supremacy and capitalism. On a stranger’s computer.

And say we don’t want that stranger to know the history of what we search for. You might think, let me use Incognito Mode (Chrome) or Private browsing (Safari, Firefox) on my browser. That’ll keep everything clear. That’ll protect me. No, not really.

Think of Incognito Mode and Private browsing less as a secure and private method, but more of a local testing ground. And that’s because they’re not really incognito, and they’re not really that private.

They’re great for things like maybe your friend is logged into their account on their computer, and you wanted to log into yours but you don’t want to log them out, so you open it in Incognito and log into your account.

Or maybe you just don’t want your browsing history to be on someone else’s computer. Sure. Think of it only as a local tool, because still companies, websites can track your IP address, your behavior online, etc.

If you want your browsing and search history to be more private, use a private browser and private search engine.

Published inDigital Security

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