Every day, it appears that we are getting less and less room for privacy, especially on the web, as corporations collect more and more data, whether for advertising or analytics purposes. Incognito mode, allows you to surf the internet without leaving any traces on your computer.
Incognito Mode may be a useful tool for protecting our online privacy. We’ve all grown acutely conscious of our online behaviour and the data trail we’re leaving behind. Every website we visit keeps track of our activities, touchpoints, and interests, which may be used to target us and construct a complete picture of our online behaviour.
You might have seen this when you’re looking for a specific item online and a pop-up ad for it appears on every website or platform you visit. Make no mistake: your information is very valuable and will be utilised for precise targeting unless you take actions to improve your online privacy. Using Incognito Mode to preserve your privacy and prevent data loss is can be considered an option.
Incognito Mode is a functionality that protects your online privacy by preventing your browsing history from being saved. When you browse the web in a standard browser window, the browser saves the URL of each website you view and keeps it even after you shut the window. This means you can quickly visit the same sites at a later time without having to sift through a lot of information.
Cookies will be stored by the browser as well. Cookies are tiny text files that remember site login information, gather information about the pages you visit, and personalise web pages and advertisements based on your online settings.
When you enable Incognito Mode, all cookies that a website tries to install on your computer are prevented or erased, and no trace of your surfing is saved in your local search history. In other words, anything you do while utilising this setting will be lost.
All major online browsers include a function that allows you to open a private browsing window that deletes your browsing history when you shut it. It’s known as Incognito Mode, Private Browsing, or InPrivate Browsing depending on the browser you’re using.
While the iPhone and iPad mostly utilise Safari, Mac users use a number of browsers, each with its own set of privacy features, such as Chrome incognito mode or Firefox private browsing. Let’s look at how to enable and disable incognito mode on Mac using the most common browsers nowadays.
Safari : Starting with macOS Catalina, Safari (v.13.1) now blocks all cross-site tracking by default, which is fantastic news for everyone’s privacy. Safari also offers an option to automatically delete history entries every day, week, month, or year. Remove history items may be chosen in Safari Preferences.
When Safari is launched, go to File in the menu bar. New Private Window should be selected next. (⌘ + Shift + N)
Firefox : Firefox, being one of the most popular independent browsers, provides a wealth of privacy options. To begin with, Safari has Enhanced Tracing Protection, which prevents social network trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, monitoring in Private Windows, and other issues. When you go to the Privacy & Security tab in Firefox’s Preferences (⌘ +,), you may activate this.
In the same tab, check the box labelled “Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed” and select “Never remember history” or “Clear history when Firefox closes” from the dropdown menu.
To begin, open Firefox and select File from the menu bar. Choose New Private Window or use the shortcut ⌘ + Shift + P .
Chrome : Given that Chrome is built by Google, which relies on collecting your data to sell more advertisements, it isn’t the best software for keeping information private. It does, however, allow you to open Chrome incognito tabs. The browser does not remember your history and does not keep cookies, website data, or anything submitted in forms when you are using incognito mode. All extensions are also disabled.
Activate the browser. Select New Incognito Window ( ⌘+ Shift + N) from the File menu.