If you thought that the incognito mode in Google Chrome would allow you to browse the web privately, we don’t blame you. After all, that’s what the feature seems to suggest. Later investigations revealed that Google continues to collect data on Chrome users even when in incognito mode, resulting in a costly lawsuit that the company ultimately agreed to settle.
To avoid future potential lawsuits, the latest version of Google Chrome for Windows now displays an additional message to users in incognito. The new message reads, “Others who use this device won’t see your activity, so you can browse more privately. This won’t change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services they use, including Google.”
The way that incognito mode in Chrome functions won’t change. Obviously there is great benefit to Google to continue collecting the browsing data of its users. The issue isn’t really with the data collection, but rather the misleading nature of incognito mode that made users think that they were browsing privately. It turns out the only privacy is from others using the same computer as you.
This means if you’ve always been using Chrome’s incognito mode as a way of protecting your privacy, it might be time to consider changing browsers. There are plenty of other more privacy-focused browsers out there which you can check out here.