Google reveals Chrome doesn’t always protect your activity in incognito mode

Google Chrome is set to get an updated incognito mode home screen that clearly states just which parts of your browsing data remain hidden, and which don’t. As per an MSPoweruser report, a new disclaimer on the page says, “This won’t change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services you use.”

What incognito mode is and why it’s useful

Now, before we move on to just why Google is doing this, let’s take a look at what incognito mode on Chrome is. All web browsers that you visit keep a record of the websites you visit, the pictures and videos you search for, and more. This is useful, should you happen to revisit some of them later on, or maybe you want to keep a check on your children from accessing any websites or downloading any files they shouldn’t be.

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However, say you’re planning a surprise for someone, or maybe if you’re sharing a computer with someone, you don’t want them accessing your information. Well, this is where incognito mode steps in. It hides all websites and pages you visit from your search history and doesn’t save your passwords or cookies either.

Why is Google updating its disclaimer on incognito mode?

Moving on to the question of why Google is doing this – back in 2020, the company faced a $5 billion lawsuit on charges of collecting user data through its services in incognito mode, and not disclosing the same to its users on the incognito mode home page.

Now, the implications of this are greater than you may think. Many of you may have been under the impression that your data in incognito mode cannot be tracked at all, whereas that’s not actually the case.

What incognito mode can and cannot hide

While the searches you run and sites you visit don’t show up on your search history, bear in mind that they don’t remain hidden from your internet service provider, or say, your office’s IT administrator.

It also gets routed through your internet service provider, and this data is also therefore visible to them at all times. The same stands true for your smartphones as well, whether connected to a home or office network, or a public network such as an airport or a coffee shop.

A second common misconception that many of you may have also happens to be that your user data cannot be tracked by the owners of the sites you visit, via analytics or cookies. That is true to a certain extent. Incognito mode deletes all cookies any time you shut it down.

Now, incognito mode does help restrict those pesky targeted advertisements to some extent. However, bear in mind that owners of websites do have other means of tracking you, including your IP address and account information if you happen to have an account on their portal.

And that brings us to the last bit. While your browsing history doesn’t get saved, neither do any cookies, your IP address doesn’t remain hidden. It is visible to any websites that you may visit, or any individuals or organisations who may be monitoring your system, as well as your country’s government. This is to ensure your system isn’t used for any malicious activities, whether in the form of fraud, identity theft, or to hurt or provoke religious and cultural sentiments.

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In addition to this, it’s also important to remember that using incognito mode doesn’t necessarily guarantee your computer is entirely protected from malware and viruses entering it either.

While incognito mode certainly has a lot of advantages then, it may not be entirely as secure as you previously thought.