# Google Chrome Incognito **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294 "2009-10-27T14:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clovernook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Clovernook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clovernook)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/1 "2009-10-27T14:07:58Z")
It says: > [@](#): > > You’ve gone incognito. Pages you view in this window won’t appear in your browser history or search history, and they won’t leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however. > > Going incognito doesn’t affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software. Be wary of: > Websites that collect or share information about you > Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit > Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys > Surveillance by secret agents > People standing behind you Does it really work? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/2 "2009-10-27T14:12:58Z")
FYI, when I use Firefox’s Private Browsing and manually adblock stuff while I’m doing it, those sites show up in my Adblock list. So the extensions might not feel the same need for privacy as you do. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/3 "2009-10-27T17:08:44Z")
What do you mean by “really work?” All it does is turn off the browser’s usual behavior of recording everything you do for future convenience (history, cookies, etc.). As it says, it doesn’t actually make you any more “incognito” with respect to anything done by the people or servers you interact with. It’s purely so that someone who uses the same account on your computer won’t see any traces of the pages you visit while in “Incognito” mode. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/4 "2009-10-27T17:22:12Z")
They may as well call it, “Don’t put my porn in the autofill” feature, but Incognito was much shorter ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/5 "2009-10-27T17:24:31Z")
If you’re really concerned about privacy, remember your ISP can still log your activity so you’ll never be truly “incognito”, but it’s about as good as it gets on the user end. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/6 "2009-10-27T17:57:09Z")
> [@JerseyFrank](#): > > They may as well call it, “Don’t put my porn in the autofill” feature, but Incognito was much shorter Well, there’s also Christmas presents. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/7 "2009-10-27T18:15:41Z")
> [@BrandonR](#): > > If you’re really concerned about privacy, remember your ISP can still log your activity so you’ll never be truly “incognito”, but it’s about as good as it gets on the user end. You can still improve things a lot by going through an anonymizing proxy, preferably one of the multiple-intermediary versions like [JAP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Anon_Proxy). Slow, though. Two different things are being addressed here. The Chrome incognito window is a convenience for turning off the browser’s local history and retained cookies - nothing more. In that sense, it’s complimentary to a proxy which conceals your IP from the target site and encrypts the requests it sends the cascade of proxy servers, but does nothing to the history being kept within the browser. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/8 "2009-10-27T18:46:37Z")
if you want something more than what incognito mode has been described as, you might look into the TOR project (I’ve not used this myself, but hear good things about it from people I trust) > **[The Tor Project | Privacy & Freedom Online](https://www.torproject.org/)** > > Defend yourself against tracking and surveillance. Circumvent censorship. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/9 "2009-10-27T19:06:19Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, there’s also Christmas presents. Like he said. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/10 "2009-10-27T19:28:23Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, there’s also Christmas presents. There’s a difference? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/11 "2009-10-27T19:40:29Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > if you want something more than what incognito mode has been described as, you might look into the TOR project (I’ve not used this myself, but hear good things about it from people I trust) > > [http://www.torproject.org/](http://www.torproject.org/) I don’t think that’s what it was described as. It seems to me that the Chrome user message very clearly describes what the incognito window does and does not do. Google deserves some credit for being very upfront about what they are (and are not) providing. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-chrome-incognito/515294/12 "2009-10-27T20:39:27Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > There’s a difference? Most Awkward Family Christmas ever?