You may think that you’re not online that often, or that you always steer clear of unsafe sites. But the World Wide Web is a vast network where it is difficult to keep track of the exchange of information.
With the headlines about cyber attacks and data breaches greeting you every time you go online, It seems almost impossible to find a foolproof way to keep yourself safe. That begs the question:
What is private browsing?
Your web browser whether it be Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, or Opera stores the addresses of the sites you visit, cookies that track your activity, passwords you’ve used, and temporary files you’ve downloaded.
This can be convenient if you frequently visit certain pages, can’t remember your login details, or if you’re trying to recall a website you visited a few days ago.
But if someone else uses or gains access to your computer, your most private (and embarrassing) internet activities are exposed for anyone to see.
If that in itself doesn’t convince you, then here are some more reasons to browse safely:
- With safe browsing, Incognito Mode in Chrome and InPrivate Browsing in Edge -all the information listed above does not get recorded. In fact, all the websites and information you accessed during a private browsing session is discarded without a trace as soon as you close the browser. This can come in handy when you’re using a public computer because you’re instantly logged out of all the accounts after closing the window.
- Safe browsing also prevents cookies from being stored on your computer. In a normal browsing session, sites like Facebook will spam you with highly targeted ads based on the sites and pages you’ve visited. But in private browsing mode, your internet activity won’t be used against you by marketing companies.
- Private browsing enables you to log in to several accounts on the same site, which is useful e.i if you need to log in to two different Google accounts at the same time.
How do I enable private browsing?
Every browser has more or less the same procedure for going into private browsing mode, and most operate in the same way (with a few occasional differences). Additionally, you can expect to hide similar types of information from prying eyes when using browsing mode.
The main problem is that every time you open your browser you have to enable the private browsing mode once again. This can be extremely cumbersome and leads to people forgetting to turn on Private mode.
This is where Safe browsing comes into play, it’s a third party extension that uses its A.I integration to automatically open the Private mode in your search engine, whenever you search something.
Always remember Private browsing is useful for much more than just privacy.
Huzaifa Majeed
Freelancer, SEO analyst, voice over artist and Writer
