Some colleagues ask about the safety of surfing the internet using Incognito mode on a web browser. The incognito feature is considered beneficial because privacy when accessing websites is felt to be protected. In almost all web browsers, we can open this feature when opening a new tab window. However, is there a security gap in this feature?
Did you know that even using Incognito mode does not mean that our activities cannot be tracked by the Internet Server Provider or the Government. Incognito mode is a special mode available in one of the most popular browsers which is used to hide one's online activities from other users.
This mode can also be known by other names for different browsers. In this mode, the process of deleting the history of all the websites we have visited occurs, not storing our personal data, for example when filling out registration forms and deleting all cookies that we get while surfing the internet.
Cookies or small text-based memories that are stored in the web browser while we surf the internet. Cookies allow us to remain logged in on certain pages even though we have closed the browser. Cookies also store our activities while walking on the e-marketplace. Even Cookies can also track our online activities when using the internet. That's why we often receive advertisements with themes similar to our last activity on the internet.
Unlike a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which diverts internet access points to a different network so that some Internet Server Providers cannot detect it, Incognito mode only doesn't save the history of all the websites we've visited. Likewise with personal data information when filling out the registration form. Even all cookies are also not stored while surfing the internet.
Incognito mode only causes other users on the same computer to not be able to see what websites we have visited. But what needs to be considered is that all the bookmarks and files that we download are still there and recorded even though we have ended Incognito Mode.
Incognito Mode only prevents our browsing habits from being exposed by other people on local computers and gadgets, but this mode leaves online traces that can still be monitored, besides that our IP Address can still be seen by other people.
So when most browsers give a warning that even if we activate Incognito Mode, Internet Service Providers and the Government can still monitor their users' online activities, this is true and not just a bluff.
Then how should it be?
We recommend using a combination of VPN and Incognito Mode. VPN provides one of the best protections for internet users today, especially for internet users who don't want their online activities to be recorded by other people. VPN is a very useful addition for internet users who want to maintain their privacy and can be combined with using Incognito Mode in the browser.
Apart from that, we can also use a combination of VPN, Incognito Mode and Duck Duck Go. As we know above, the use of VPN and Incognito Mode has provided additional protection against browsing activities. But if this is not enough then we can use the next additional tool. The additional tool is the search engine (search engine) Duck Duck Go. Duck Duck Go is an anonymous search engine that will not track the browsing activity of its users.
Another alternative, you can also use a combination of VPN, Incognito Mode, Duck Duck Go and Tor Browser. Furthermore, if the combination of VPN, Incognito Mode, Duck Duck Go is still not enough to maintain privacy, then we can use the next additional tool. The additional tool is the Tor Browser. Tor Browser is based on the Mozilla Firefox platform but has been modified to protect privacy.
Agus Cahyo Nugroho, S.Kom, M.T