You’ve probably discovered that Google and other regular search engines also offer an incognito or private mode. It’s a form of private browsing that doesn’t leave as many tracks as normal browsing does. Incognito mode does have its advantages. If you’re browsing in this mode, for example, your web browser forgets about your session as soon as you close the incognito window. Nothing is kept lingering around in your browsing history and all the cookies you’ve created during your session are erased. Cookies are little bits of data that log your online activities and they are the reason webshops remember what items you’re interested in, even days after you’ve visited the shop. Browsing in private mode can be useful when you’re searching on sensitive topics. Or if you want to sign into multiple accounts without having to sign in and out every single time. While it does keep certain aspects private, it doesn’t help much if you want to maintain online invisibility during your browsing sessions. Of course, it’s a good thing your private mode erases temporary data, but that is only after you close your browser. When you’re in the midst of browsing, everything you do is visible to third parties. Websites and internet services can still follow your online activities, linking these activities between various accounts and profiles. For example, when you sign into Facebook, Facebook knows what you’ve been doing on other sites and adjusts its advertising: even in private mode. Tracking technologies are highly advanced, making it nearly impossible to block them, no matter how many private methods you throw into the game. Even if you don’t sign in anywhere, the websites you visit still have access to your device type, browser data, and IP address. This way, they can still figure out what your preferences are and tie this to other available information about you. So while private mode hides your online activities from the browser you’ve been using, it doesn’t hide your browsing from your service provider. It also doesn’t wipe out files you’ve downloaded. Your searches are being logged and associated with your account, making it impossible to truly browse anonymously.