Chrome, Firefox, and Edge are the world’s largest internet browsers, and they all share a feature that many users know as “private browsing.” However, if you haven’t dealt with it, you might think that less of your data will end up on the Internet – but it’s not quite like that. MeinMMO explains.
What is Private Browsing? This feature starts your Internet browser in a special mode that saves less data about your surfing behavior on your PC. The feature has different names depending on the browser:
There are some misconceptions about this feature. Some users assume that in this mode they surf the Internet “anonymously” and leave no traces of data.
But actually, private surfing is limited to the data that is stored on your computer. Your Internet provider, employer or the websites you are visiting will receive the data about your surfing behavior.
You can find out what private surfing really brings and how you can protect yourself better on the Internet on MeinMMO.
What does private browsing do? Basically, when you launch a browser in private mode, it’s as if you had it freshly installed. However, this varies a little from browser to browser – Firefox, for example, shows you websites in the URL bar that you have visited in the past.
However, these websites do not directly recognize whether you have visited them before. Also, your search engine history is empty and you won’t get suggestions for a search you’ve previously performed.
As soon as you close the private browser window, the data about your surfing behavior will be deleted from your computer. Cookies and websites visited are not preserved and it looks like you haven’t touched the browser.
However, this only applies to the browser data on your computer if you have full control over the computer yourself. Even if you set bookmarks or carry out downloads while browsing privately – such data is retained.
I use my own browser just for gaming and you should too
What does private browsing not do? First of all: It does not ensure that you surf the Internet anonymously and without a trace. You leave your data everywhere and can even be tracked.
Because your IP address, a kind of identification number, is also transmitted when you browse privately and allows conclusions to be drawn about which websites you have visited with this address.
Your Internet provider and the websites you visit receive your IP information, so you are not anonymous.
If you use a computer that you do not have full control over, your surfing behavior can also be monitored in private mode.
For example, if you use a PC at work, your employer can install programs to monitor internet usage. The same applies to unwanted malware on PCs that monitor Internet browsers.
How can I protect myself better? If you want to surf the Internet more anonymously, there are a number of solutions to disguise your IP address. Ultimately it comes down to how much you want to protect yourself. The more protection, the deeper you have to deal with the topic.
VPN solutions are popular for quick and easy protection. You then do not connect directly to the websites, but have a VPN server in between, which means that your own IP cannot be recognized by the website.
But even here you are not really anonymous, because the data is then with the VPN provider. Even if some of them promise not to save the data, such as Nord VPN. However, your Internet provider cannot be fooled by this.
In an interview with US broadcaster CNN, Albert Fox Cahn, founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and a member of the New York University School of Law, said: “You have to keep in mind that all of these things can reduce risk. But none of them are perfect.”
There is no perfect protection and real anonymous surfing.