Chrome, Firefox, and Edge are the largest internet browsers worldwide, and all share a feature that many users know as “Private Browsing.” However, if you haven’t looked into it, you might think that this means less of your data ends up on the internet – but that’s not the case. MeinMMO clarifies.
What is “Private Browsing”? This feature starts your internet browser in a special mode that stores less of your browsing behavior data on your PC. The feature has different names depending on the browser:
- Chrome: Incognito Mode
- Firefox: Private Window
- Edge: InPrivate Browsing
There are some misconceptions about this feature. Some users assume that they browse the internet “anonymously” in this mode and leave no data traces.
But actually, private browsing only limits the data stored on your computer. Your internet provider, employer, or the websites you visit still receive data about your browsing behavior.
You can find out what private browsing really offers and how to better protect yourself online at MeinMMO.
What does private browsing do? When you start a browser in private mode, it’s essentially as if you’ve just installed it fresh. However, this can vary slightly from browser to browser – for example, Firefox shows you in the URL bar websites you have visited before.
However, those websites cannot directly tell if you have visited them before. Furthermore, your search history in search engines is empty, and you won’t receive suggestions for searches you performed previously.
Once you close the private browser windows, the data about your browsing behavior on your computer is deleted. Cookies and visited websites are not retained, and it appears as if you haven’t touched the browser.
This applies only to the browser data on your computer if you have full control over the machine. Even if you set bookmarks or perform downloads while browsing privately – this data will remain.
What does private browsing not do? First and foremost: It does not ensure that you are browsing the internet anonymously and without leaving traces. You leave your data everywhere and can even be tracked.
Your IP address, a type of identification number, is also transmitted while private browsing and can give clues about which websites you have visited with this address.
Your internet provider and the websites you visit receive your IP information, so you are not browsing anonymously.
If you use a computer that you do not have full control over, your browsing behavior in private mode can also be monitored.
For example, if you are using a work PC, your employer can install programs to monitor internet usage. The same applies to unwanted malware on PCs that track internet browsers.
- In general, it can be said that “Private Browsing” only deletes the data that resides on your own PC after browsing. If you share the PC privately with another person, you can keep your browsing behavior secret from that person. Beyond that, “Private Browsing” helps little to not at all.
How can I better protect myself? If you want to browse the internet more anonymously, there are several solutions to conceal your IP address. Ultimately, it depends on how much you want to protect yourself. The more protection, the more you need to engage with the topic.
For quick and simple protection, VPN solutions are common. You connect not directly to websites, but have a VPN server in between, which makes your own IP address unrecognizable to the website.
However, you still are not truly anonymous, as the data resides with the VPN provider. Even if they promise not to store data, such as Nord VPN. Your internet provider, however, cannot be fooled by this.
In an interview with the US broadcaster CNN, Albert Fox Cahn, founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and a member of the New York University School of Law, said: “One should keep in mind that all these things can reduce the risk. But none of them are perfect.”
There is no perfect protection and no truly anonymous browsing.
