You can watch this article as a video on The Privacy Lab's YouTube channel.Five billion dollars. That's how much Google agreed to pay after being caught tracking millions of users who thought they were browsing privately with Incognito mode. During the lawsuit, quotes from Google’s own employees emerged, calling Incognito "effectively a lie" and a "confusing mess."Even Google's Chief Marketing Officer warned the CEO that they had to use "fuzzy, hedging language" because, in her own words, "it's not truly private."I think Incognito mode is one of the most successful illusions in tech history. So, I'm going to strip it back to look at what Google Chrome actually does to protect your data, what Incognito mode completely fails to do, and the steps you can take to stay genuinely safe online.Credit where it's due
(Image credit: Getty Images)It's important to be fair to Google here, even though it might feel a bit wrong: Chrome is actually a fairly secure web browser when it comes to keeping you safe from hackers and malware.Importantly, it makes sure you use HTTPS, which encrypts the data that passes between your device and the websites you visit. This means that even if you connect to a dodgy Wi-Fi hotspot and someone is monitoring the connection, they can't steal your passwords or read your traffic. Plus, it warns you if you click on unencrypted HTTP links. Because Chrome and most other modern browsers do this, the classic "man in the middle" attack is very rare nowadays.Chrome also features Secure DNS, as well as tab sandboxing. The latter isolates every browser tab so a malicious site can't jump to another and steal data. But the problem isn't Chrome's security. The problem is what happens when you click on Incognito.What Incognito mode is good for
