Everyone has heard about incognito by now. This popular mode is used when you don’t want something to be recorded in your browser history. I’ve read a few jokes on how people are worried about their browser history being exposed.
What makes these jokes even funnier is that you don’t need to have browser history anymore. With the kind of customizations that are available to us, we can decide what goes in our history and what doesn’t.
What is the incognito mode?
What we all know is that incognito doesn’t store anything in the browser history. What most of us don’t know is that incognito also deletes browser cookies as soon as the session is exited. So there are even fewer traces of you browsing a website.
Of course, this means that when you use a public computer, the person who uses the computer after you cannot see what you’ve been doing.
This also means that websites will not know if you’ve visited them before (based on the cookies – they can still see your IP address though).
What are the disadvantages of Incognito Mode?
Let’s discuss where the incognito mode lacks.
- It doesn’t hide your activities on a network level
On a local level, your activities are hidden. So anyone who has access to your device won’t get to know what you did on it. However, someone monitoring your network can still see whatever you’ve done. And this someone could be your ISP, the government, or a hacker lurking on your system. If you’re using the internet from your office, it can be the network team and if you’re in your school or college, it can be staff members.
Even if you open incognito in your office or school, you’re can’t hide your activities from them. - You need to “activate” it
Whether you’re opening an Incognito window in Chrome or Private Browsing session in Firefox, you need to open a special window for it. The default windows are regular. So if you forget clicking on the special window, you’ll leave history traces. You’ll need to delete this history, cookies, passwords, and everything else that’s recorded on a local level. If you forget doing that, your browsing details will be left in the open for everyone else to view. One good solution to this problem is using an incognito browser. Browsers like Kingpin browser always operate in incognito so you never make a mistake and always stay incognito. - Advertisers can still track you
Even if you’re incognito, advertisers can still keep a track of what you visit and which websites you open. Did you just open Amazon and look at photo frames? Congratulations, now there are photo frame ads on whichever website you visit. If you’re tired of this monitoring and are switching to incognito because of that, it will be useless. However, private browsers such as Kingpin can protect you from being tracked by advertisers. Ads can sometimes get downright creepy with the way they follow you around everywhere you go. With Kingpin browser, there is no history, no cookies, and no ads. It’s a clean internet experience with true private browsing. - It cannot hide tabs
You’re working on your computer on incognito mode. You have 7-8 tabs open and someone calls you. You need to get up from your seat but you’ll need to close the tabs before that. And of course, this means you cannot open them again because they won’t be remembered by the browser. That’s a regular issue faced by incognito users. However, with Kingpin browser, you can hide your tabs with a single click. Set up a 4-digit PIN that will be used to unlock the tabs when you return. Your browsing is safe now. No need to lose your work if you have to leave your desk. - Your downloaded data is all there
You’re browsing the internet, casually stalking the profile of your ex. Hmm… she’s with another guy. You download that image and later forget about it because you were on incognito so there’s nothing to worry about, right? Wrong! Whatever you download using the incognito mode stays on your computer – the torrent files, the images, videos, documents, and just about everything else. So if you’re using incognito, make sure you delete all the downloaded files manually. - You can be browser fingerprinted
Each browser has some unique characteristics that set it apart from others. For example, if you’re using Chrome with 5 specific extensions, the website you visit can tell it apart from another browser that’s also Chrome but uses other extensions. So the more plugins you install, the more visible you become on the internet. If your browser has a number of plugins, the website will detect it even if you’re using incognito. If you’re using plugins to enhance the security of your browser, you’re actually making it more insecure by increasing your fingerprint. If you want security features, it’s better to use a secure browser such as Kingpin instead of adding too many plugins. - DNS queries will reveal it all
Even if you have used incognito mode, anyone who queries DNS on your device will get to see which websites you have opened. The good thing is that not everyone knows how to search the DNS database so your family might not know what you have ordered from Amazon on Christmas.
Incognito – Some good, some bad
Incognito is mainly used to hide your activities from someone who has access to your device. It’s a good idea but the bad thing about it is the false security it provides.
When it comes to safe browsing, many people prefer Tor. However, there are some problems with Tor, the primary one being slow speeds. Tor takes forever to open and browsing speed is super slow even if you’re on fast internet.
This is the reason people want a secure browser that can let them live in peace but with fast speeds. Try Kingpin browser. It doesn’t store history, doesn’t let advertisers track you, and helps keep your incognito tabs private.
Besides, it’s always incognito, so you don’t have to activate a “special” window.
