Is Google’s Incognito Mode Private?
That question is the basis of a FIVE BILLION DOLLAR lawsuit.
Google’s Chrome incognito mode is the tool of choice for people who want to keep their web activity private. The use of it is often called private browsing or porn mode, depending on who you talk to.
There are legitimate reasons to use incognito mode that actually do serve a purpose. For example, online flight booking sites track your activity and after you have searched an itinerary several times, they start raising prices to trick you into booking now. Since incognito mode deletes your cookies when you close your browser, it can help with keeping your airfare low.
What it does not do is hide your browsing from your boss, your Internet provider, your DNS provider or any website that you visit. Websites, in particular, fingerprint your computer as a way to track you in between sessions. Sometimes this can even track you across devices.
In a lawsuit filed a few years ago, some folks who thought that “Don’t be Evil” was still part of Google’s business motto (it is not), found it more than a little bothersome that, despite Google’s assurances of privacy, Incognito mode does not really offer you much privacy. Except, to some degree, from someone who is sharing the same login on the same computer as you use. Beyond that, it does not do much.
Google claims that if you read the first screen that pops up when you enter incognito mode, it tells you that your browsing is not really private:
Curiously, other Chromium browsers don’t even offer that warning. I don’t know when Google added this warning – possibly after the lawsuit was filed.
Google says that they have been consistent – saying that they have never said that incognito mode is a Harry Potter invisibility cloak.
While at least some techies understand the small amount of privacy incognito mode gives you, it is equally likely that the average user does think this is an invisibility cloak and Google really hasn’t done a lot to eliminate that confusion. After all, if the average user understands that it is basically useless from a privacy standpoint, they might actually push for something that does enhance their privacy – at a risk to Google’s pocketbook.
To add to Google’s concerns, apparently some Google engineers were joking about the effectiveness of incognito mode as far back as 2018. This doesn’t help Google’s case.
It is not clear how Google might “settle” this case outside of court and admitting that the whole thing is a joke might leave them open to more lawsuits.
Stay tuned. Credit: Cybernews
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