Incognito mode (Chrome), Private Window (Firefox, Safari) โ these are widely misunderstood. Here is the honest truth.
โ
What Private Browsing DOES
- Deletes your local browsing history when you close the window
- Does not save cookies or site data after the session ends
- Does not save form inputs or passwords
- Keeps sessions separate โ useful for logging into multiple accounts
- Prevents other people on your device from seeing your history
โ What Private Browsing Does NOT Do
- Your ISP can still see your traffic โ Incognito does not hide sites from your internet provider
- Your employer or school can still monitor network traffic
- Websites still know your IP address
- Google still tracks searches if you're signed into your account
- Does not protect from malware or phishing
For Real Privacy, Use:
- VPN โ hides traffic from your ISP (but not from the VPN provider)
- Brave Browser โ blocks trackers and fingerprinting by default
- Tor Browser โ maximum anonymity (much slower)
- DuckDuckGo โ search engine that doesn't track you