The big companies such as Google and Facebook often seem to make headlines when it comes to privacy and tracking user behaviour in order to sell for profit. So I suppose people shouldn’t be surprised that Google has been collecting data even when using the Incognito mode.
I heard about this in the following article:
https://www.howtogeek.com/google-chrome-incognito-mode-settlement
Brand Loyalty
As an aside, I find it strange how people have such strong brand loyalty. Google Chrome used to be conisdered the far superior browser, gaining popularity over Firefox, and leaving Internet Explorer behind. The rebranded Edge does use “Chromium” which Chrome is built on. Chrome has taken flak for being a memory hog, and with privacy concerns, I expected people to make the switch back to Microsoft.
Last week I mentioned Edge to my Software Developer colleagues and they were disgusted. There was even more disgust when I mentioned how Bing is actually a great search engine, and the free Copilot feature that allows you to easily request AI generated images means it is what I now use. Maybe you can’t trust Microsoft either, but with recent controversies of Google Gemini, and suggestion of political bias in their search results, surely brand loyalty should continue to wane.
Incognito mode
When it comes to Incognito mode, the user is told that it is a “private browsing” feature. It doesn’t store browsing history and active sessions, but it isn’t private from your internet service provider. I thought there were no tracking cookies involved either but I think this is the basis on the lawsuit where Google has been collecting “personal and sensitive data” from users, even when in Incognito.
“Google has agreed to delete (or anonymize) all private data collected from Incognito sessions before December 2023, and it will now block third-party cookies in Incognito Mode by default. Users who open Incognito Mode will encounter a more detailed explanation of the feature’s capabilities, too.”
howtogeek
Conclusion (written by guest writer Bing Copilot using Microsoft Edge)
The case of Google’s Incognito mode serves as a stark reminder that in the digital world, privacy is not always guaranteed. Users must remain aware of the potential for their data to be tracked and used, even when measures are taken to browse privately. As technology continues to evolve, so too must our understanding and expectations of privacy in the online realm.
Stranger Coding Tings 