Stop Doing Your Weird Internet Stuff in Private Mode
We all have some secrets we would prefer nobody ever find out, and if there’s one 21st century trick that every keeper of secrets knows, it’s “Incognito Mode” browsing. Whether you’re shopping for presents on a shared computer or stalking an ex watching embarrassing videos, every sly internet user has used private browsing as a way to stay secret. Well, it turns out that incognito mode is not as private as you probably thought.
For the uninitiated: Incognito mode is that “private” browsing feature on either your phone or computer that lets you take care of private matters privately. Basically, this way of browsing stops your browser from storing information about what you’re doing online. The sites you surfed in incognito mode will not show up on your history, and autofill features will not remember what you typed in.
HOWEVER, just because you’re surfing incognito does not mean you’re surfing away from prying eyes. Your service provider, the government and eager hackers can still totally see what you’re doing using information from your IP address. And here’s something super important: Although you may think you’re being super clever by surfing incognito as a way around your work’s internet monitoring system, you’re not.
We repeat: Incognito will not hide your information from prying eyes on different computers, it just makes it so your browser does not store anything you’ve done. So depending how freaky or secret you want to get online, you may want to rethink what you’re doing incognito.
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(Photo via Getty)