Until a few years ago, the only way that users had to be able to navigate without leaving a trace in their computer’s web browser (a useful option when the PC is shared with other family members at home), was to erase the history, cookies and program cache. Until many of the most popular browsers were encouraged to add the browse incognito tool.
This is a very useful option when we want the browser not to save the history of the different web pages we have visited, search queries, cookies and other private data that generally tend to be generated automatically while we browse the Internet.
What’s more, it is a very simple tool to use, which we can start immediately when we need it. But, as many browsers warn when starting this functionality, in some cases it is possible that this navigation is not completely private. For example, when we download a file to our hard drive or save the web page in favorites.
However, is it safe to use this mode when we want to browse incognito? Or do browsers actually record some data? How does it really work and when can it leave a trace?
How does the incognito mode of a web browser work?
It is a function that, today, is available in practically all Internet browsers. And, in practice, it allows you to browse the web anonymously , protecting the privacy of the user who uses it by not storing (theoretically) any data.
But to fully understand how incognito or private browsing works, you need to understand how “normal” browsing works. Every time we browse the Internet, the browser we use for it tends to retain and store a lot of information , especially as a way to be able to reuse it later:
- History of visited sites, in order to be able to find them more easily without having to re-enter the URL again in the address bar.
- Hide previously viewed pages, to quickly redisplay them.
- Cookies from previously visited sites. It is a very useful option when it comes to remembering some of the actions carried out, such as login details, products stored in a basket (in the case of online stores) and much more.
- Passwords In order to memorize login identifiers to authenticate immediately without having to re-enter them again.
- Temporary files, to store different specific files that allow future navigation through the same web page to be a little faster.
However, when we use a computer shared with other users, it is possible that those other users can discover which pages we have recently visited, for example by consulting it through the browsing history option.
It is precisely to protect the privacy of all users that browsers decided to implement private browsing . In this way, by activating this functionality, all this information (history, cookies, cache and passwords) is stored in a specific folder, but which is then automatically deleted as soon as we end the private browsing session .
Does this feature make us anonymous on the web?
It is a mistake to think that this tool turns us into anonymous users on the network. Basically it allows certain confidentiality towards those who share the same computer as us , but in no case is it useful to surf the Internet anonymously. In other words, even when we activate this option, it will not make us “invisible” at all .
In addition, incognito browsing does not protect our privacy and confidentiality one hundred percent, especially when we visit websites that collect personal information, in the presence of ISPs or proxy servers that monitor our browsing, or in the presence of malicious software on our computer. not detected.
For these situations in which we want to become one hundred percent anonymous, an available option is to choose a VPN service , which, together with private or incognito browsing, does become a powerful tool to provide us with data security and privacy (in addition, Most of these services ensure that they do not store any type of information related to what users do while browsing the Internet through their servers).
Can you really leave a trace?
As we have seen, incognito browsing may not be as private as we would like, especially in the presence of other people at home, when the website server stores some data such as the IP address and data related to the geolocation of our home, or due to the existence of malware or spyware.
What’s more, according to a study conducted by Digital Content Next, and published a few years ago, it was shown that Google was capable of linking data to identify users during incognito browsing . How? It was enough to simply link the data of our “normal” visits with those of the “incognito” visits to collect information about the user, without their knowledge, even if they were using this tool.
Even using private browsing, search engines continue to record search requests from users , especially Google. Similarly, ISPs will continue to log the data and the police could easily track everything down when they seize the equipment.
Therefore, we must be clear about one thing: with incognito browsing the only thing we achieve is that other users who use the same computer cannot know which web pages we have visited during their use, unless we have been clumsy in making some downloads. or save the URL in the browser’s favorites section.
