The tongue-in-cheek musical Avenue Q insists that the Internet is for Porn, and the recent invention of leave-no-tracks Private Browsing Mode seems to support that notion. But even while you're surfing the web for more innocent activities, private browsing can have some really useful advantages.
Every major browser features some kind of private browsing mode: On Firefox and Safari, it's called Private Browsing; on Internet Explorer, InPrivate; on Opera, private tab or private window; on Google Chrome, Incognito mode.
And while you hear plenty of jokes about using private browsing for intimate moments, there are plenty of SFW (that's Safe for Work) uses for going incognito:
• Buying a gift for a loved one. Birthday gift, suprise vacation, engagement ring… all things you probably want to keep secret — and out of your browsing history.
• When you want to sign in to multiple accounts. Private browsing lets you keep two email or social network accounts open in different tabs.
• When a friend wants to check their email or Facebook. Open an incogito window for them and you'll stay signed in to your own accounts behind the scenes. And Private Browsing means auto-suggestion won't fill in any embarassing search terms or URLs.
• When you want a "pure search." Google's search algorithm uses your networks and friends' reccomendations in ranking pages for you. If you want to see a more accurate depiciton of what the world at large sees when they search a term, use Incognito mode.
• When you need to research something private. Look up a medical condition without worrying family members, or do a job search without tipping off co-workers or friends.
• When you don't want a product search to define your recomendations. If Amazon knows you well enough to suggest the best indie documentary DVDs, you might not want to mess that up when you buy My Little Pony for your niece's Christmas present.
• When you're visiting a site you don't want others to know you visited. Wink wink. We won't tell. And neither will your browser.
(Images: Shutterstock, Google Chrome)
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I use incognito to buy presents for my sister who is sharing a computer with me right now, but never thought of using it for a pure search or to keep things out of my reccomendations. That is very helpful.
I've always seen that option, but never knew what it really does. Thanks for this tip!
The incognito is a must for buying presents. A friend recently got engaged and when I asked her if she was surprised her response was, "well, all my facebook ads have been for engagement rings and wedding planning recently, so I kind of knew it was about to happen" Her BF had cleared the browser history but the ads were a dead giveaway.
Its also useful for circumventing some newspaper sites paywall.
Yep, present buying! I do most/as much as possible of my Christmas shopping from my work computer, and I do it EARLY, which is all great...until I'm out for a week and my mom fills in for me. So I set things up in Incognito and left, safe in the knowledge that she wouldn't notice and I wouldn't have to worry about her seeing the Amazon basket!
As a web developer and blogger, I use it constantly to see how my website acts when a new user comes to the site. I do this to test JavaScript, new actions, and just about anything where I need to understand what someone who stumbles on the website actually sees. It's quite useful for that.
Cool. Thanks for the tip.
Merci. Je vais ...essayer ! La "sous-douée du Net ! Vi
We've all heard that famous refrain, "I don't care about privacy. I have nothing to hide." This post includes some great examples of the many legit reasons we all need a little privacy sometimes.
thanks..that is a great tip
Yeah, my work switched all of us over to Gmail for our office email accounts, so I use the incognito window to stay logged in to my personal Google account while I'm here. Same for when I used to use my ex's laptop; he always left all of his stuff open and logged in, and I knew that deep down it would really tweak him if I kept logging out of all of his stuff, so I always used incognito. Added bonus around Christmas when he didn't get to see what I was getting him!