Here’s Who’s Watching You in Incognito Mode

Incognito Mode and False sense of complete Privacy

It started one late night in 2015, (when I was little, certainly little than now).

I was researching something slightly embarrassing (let's just say it involved — — — — — and some sketchy home remedies.

You know how it goes:

you type one thing in Google, and before you know it, you're five pages deep into questionable forums and medical conspiracy theories.

Anyway, I had a flash of genius. "Wait, may be, I should open Incognito mode! That way, no one will know I was looking this stuff up!"

And just like that, I felt safe.

Private. Invisible. Untouchable.

Or so I thought.

Who is Actually watching You

Here's the harsh truth I wish I had digged into, a little sooner:

Incognito Mode does not make you anonymous.

your boss, your school, your internet provider, your favorite websites — they can still see what you're doing in Incognito, depending on the setup, connection and network environment you are working in.

The only people it hides your activity from?

The ones who use your device after you.

Yes. That's it.

So, What Does Incognito Mode Actually Do?

Let's break it down (minus the tech jargon).

When you open a new Incognito (or Private Browsing) window in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge, here's what happens:

Your browser Keep data temporarily:

• Your search history
• Cookies and site data (temporarily stored but deleted after)
• Form fills or passwords

As soon as you close the browser, all the data is gone. So there is no record.

But it does NOT hide your activity from:

• Websites you visit
• Your employer or school network (if you're on their Wi-Fi)
• Your internet service provider (ISP)
• Government surveillance (yep, that too)

So while it stops your device from keeping a record, the internet at large still knows what you're up to (they know that — — — — ).

That Time I Thought I Was Smart (But Wasn't)

Getting back to 2015 (me being little of course).

After my "private" acne research session (and yes Men can have acne too), I felt all smug. Closed the laptop. Slept like a digital pro.

Until the next morning.

I opened Facebook. And the first ad was something like,

"Try these dermatologist-approved acne creams!"

Then on YouTube (again something related):

"Best natural skin treatments for oily faces."

And I'm sitting there thinking:

Wait. How Do they know what are my biggest worries these days?. But I didn't search something related on the FacBook or YouTube Apps.

But (yes) I did that on my browser.

But, I was in Incognio! Right ?

But as it turns out,

one of the websites I visited had embedded trackers that still sent info to Facebook (Meta).

And even though the cookies were deleted later, the damage was done in real-time.

What's Actually Happening Behind the Curtain?

Websites are smarter than most people think.

Here's how they still track you, even in "private" mode:

• IP Address: This is your digital (online) home address. It doesn't change in Incognito. So even if your browser isn't saving history, websites still know where the request came from.
• Browser Fingerprinting: Your screen size, browser version, fonts installed, plugins, all these little things create a unique fingerprint that's shockingly accurate at identifying you.
• Network Monitoring: If you're at work or on university Wi-Fi, your activity is likely being monitored at the network level. Doesn't matter what browser mode you use.
• Logged-In Sessions: If you're logged into Google or Facebook on another tab (even in a regular window), they can still track you across tabs, including Incognito.

Why Do We Still Think Incognito = Anonymous?

Well,

Because the word Incognito is misleading.

It makes you feel like you're wearing a digital invisibility cloak (false sense of privacy).

In reality,

you're just wearing sunglasses indoors — slightly harder to recognize, but still very visible.

Even Google has added disclaimers on the Incognito page which means:

"Your activity might still be visible to websites you visit, your employer or school, and your internet provider."

Thats says it all.

But honestly speaking —

who actually reads that fine print?

(surprise me in the comments, saying, Yes I Do)

So… Is Incognito Totally Useless?

Not at all. It has its place — and it's actually useful in the right context.

When Incognito is Helpful:

• Logging into multiple accounts at once (without logging out in your main window)
• Preventing autofill or saved password prompts on those shared computers
• Temporarily bypassing paywalls or cookie-based restrictions (some websites give you limited free reads per session)
• Shopping for flights or hotels (though this trick doesn't always work anymore)

Cutting the long story short,

It's a privacy-from-your-own-device feature — not privacy from the internet.

So What Should You Do for Real Privacy?

If online privacy truly matters to you, here are some practical steps beyond just switching to Incognito:

• Use a VPN This hides your IP address from websites and your ISP. But choose a trusted, no-log VPN — not a free sketchy one.

• Use Privacy-Focused Browsers Brave, Firefox (with extensions), or Tor offer better privacy by default than Chrome.
• Install Tracker Blockers Extensions like uBlock Origin or Privacy Badger block most invisible scripts and trackers.
• Avoid Logging Into Google or Meta While Browsing Sensitive Topics Seriously — if you're logged in, they're tracking everything.
• Use a Separate Browser for Sensitive Stuff Some folks use one browser just for Google/Facebook, and another for everything else.
• Clear Cookies & Site Data Regularly Or browse in containers (like Firefox containers), which isolate cookies per tab.