Don’t trust Google Chrome’s incognito mode

Privacy is fast becoming a hard-to-earn luxury. As you browse through websites, it’s hard to shake off the creepy feeling that wherever you go, unseen eyes are watching you: Google, Facebook, your internet service provider, the government, the person sitting next to you, etc.

Among the many privacy-enhancing tools, one of the best known is the Chrome Incognito window, Google’s version of private browsing. Incognito window provides a measure of privacy if you’re browsing on a shared computer. But it’s far from being a perfect solution.

Unfortunately, many people don’t understand the privacy implications of Google’s Incognito window and end up trusting it more than they should. According to a study by researchers at the University of Chicago and Leibniz University of Hannover, many users wrongly think Google’s Incognito mode and other private browsing windows will protect them against malware, advertising, tracking codes and the monitoring by connection gateways.