Privacy-focused browsers typically turn private mode on by default, or automatically purge browsing history when you quit the browser. The big downside of this approach is that blocking them can sometimes break parts of websites, like shopping carts and videos. Whenever you load a website, the software then detects those trackers and restricts them from following you from site to site. The blockers depend on a list of known trackers that grab information about your identity. Private browsers also use tracker blockers, which can often be downloaded as an add-on for a browser. This is useful if you don’t want people with physical access to your device to snoop on you. They rely on something called private mode, also known as incognito mode, which is a browsing session that does not record a history of the websites you have visited. Private browsers generally incorporate web technologies that have been around for years: It’s important to know what private browsers do, and what they don’t.

Google, whose Chrome browser is the world’s most popular, has been trying to develop a new way to target us with ads without the cookie. The online advertising industry is on the brink of ceasing to use web cookies, pieces of code planted in browsers that follow us from site to site and help target us with ads. We have also reached an inflection point in digital privacy. While some browsers like Safari and Firefox also include tracking prevention, the smaller brands have been focused on even more privacy protections. That’s generally better than what most mainstream browsers, especially Chrome, do. What stands out is that they minimise the data gathered about us by blocking the technologies used to track us. This kind of browser, from less-known brands like DuckDuckGo and Brave, have emerged over the last three years. So if the differences are minimal, why bother looking for something else?īy the end of this column, I hope to persuade you to at least try something else: a new type of internet navigator called a private browser.

Brave incognito tab