Private and Incognito Mode

A friend once went on line at a computer rental shop. After she was done, and left she realized that she forgot to log out from her email account. She went back and asked the operator if she could log off from her account. Fortunately for her, no one sat at the computer after she was done.

Forgetting to log off or log out from your account is one of the mistakes when going to computer shops or when using “other” people’s computer.

The good news is, two web browsers have a feature that you can use when you want to surf the web and don’t want to save your information..

Google Chrome’s “Incognito Mode”

The private browsing feature called Incognito mode prevents the browser from permanently storing any history information or cookies from the websites visited. 

source: wikipedia.com

How to open Inconito Mode on Google Chrome

1. Click the Chrome menu  on the browser toolbar.

2. Select New incognito window.

Opening an Incognito Window

3. A new window will open with the incognito icon  in the corner.

Incognito Window

You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+Shift+N (Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS) and ⌘-Shift-N (Mac) to open an incognito window.

Once you have opened the incognito window, you will also see a disclaimer that reads:

You’ve gone Incognito. Pages that you view in this window won’t appear in your browser history or search history and they won’t leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close all open Incognito windows. Any files that you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however. 

Going Incognito doesn’t affect the behaviour of other people, servers or software. Be wary of:

• Websites that collect or share information about you
• Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit
• Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smilies
• Surveillance by secret agents
• People standing behind you

Mozilla Firefox “Private Browsing”

Private Browsing – Browse the web without saving information about the sites you visit.  As you browse the web, Firefox remembers lots of information for you – like the sites you’ve visited. There may be times, however, when you don’t want people with access to your computer to see this information, such as when shopping for a present. Private Browsing allows you to browse the Internet without saving any information about which sites and pages you’ve visited. We’ll show you how it works.

source: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-browse-web-without-saving-info

How to open a new “Private Window”

At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button and select New Private Window.

Select “New Private Window”

Important: When in Private Browsing mode, the Firefox button will be purple. You may also have other windows open that are not Private Browsing windows.

You can now browse on a Private Window

What does Private Browsing not save?

• Visited pages: No pages will be added to the list of sites in the History menu, the Library window’s history list, or the Awesome Bar address list.
• Form and Search Bar entries: Nothing you enter into text boxes on web pages or theSearch bar will be saved for Form autocomplete.
• Passwords: No new passwords will be saved.
• Download List entries: No files you download will be listed in the Downloads Windowafter you turn off Private Browsing.
• Cookies: Cookies store information about websites you visit such as site preferences, login status, and data used by plugins like Adobe Flash. Cookies can also be used by third parties to track you across websites. For more info about tracking, see How do I turn on the Do Not Track feature?
• Cached Web Content and Offline Web Content and User Data: No temporary Internet files (cached files) or files that websites save for offline use will be saved.

Note:

• New bookmarks you create while using Private Browsing will be saved.
• Any files you download to your computer while using Private Browsing will be saved.

source: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-browse-web-without-saving-info

And just like Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode, Private Browsing also has a disclaimer:

Important: Private Browsing doesn’t make you anonymous on the Internet. Your Internet service provider, employer, or the sites themselves can still track what pages you visit. Private Browsing also doesn’t protect you from keyloggers or spyware that may be installed on your computer.