# Why Incognito Mode is a Lie

**URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/why-incognito-mode-is-a-lie/35558
**Category:** Videos
**Created:** 2026-02-17T20:30:55Z
**Posts:** 7

## Post 1 by @jonah — 2026-02-17T20:30:55Z

https://neat.tube/videos/embed/bEVgiTY5Kp3n7kBrUBuiV3

Incognito Mode or Private Browsing mode is a feature that every browser has, but what if that was a lie and your activity in private mode could still be tracked? In this video we break down the issues with private browsing mode and what you can do instead to get true privacy!

## Sources

0:02 [Private browsing - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_browsing)

1:00 [Browser Market Share Worldwide | Statcounter Global Stats](https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/)

1:09 [https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/04/15/google-confirms-secret-chrome-tracking-how-to-stop-it/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/04/15/google-confirms-secret-chrome-tracking-how-to-stop-it/)

1:55 [Privacy Respecting Web Browsers for PC and Mac - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/desktop-browsers/)

2:18 [Bounce Tracking Meaning & Definition | Brave](https://brave.com/glossary/bounce-tracking/)

2:32 [Browser Extensions - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/browser-extensions/)

3:03 [Safari - Apple](https://www.apple.com/safari/)

3:48 [A Family Affair: The Reality of Household Device Sharing - Upwave. Bring Science to Top-of-Funnel.](https://www.upwave.com/reality-household-device-sharing/)

3:59 [Firefox private browsing mode — Firefox](https://www.firefox.com/en-US/features/private-browsing/)

4:42 [Donate - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/about/donate/)

4:53 [Privacy Guides Fund](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides)

5:53 [https://brave.com](https://brave.com)

6:34 [Privacy Respecting Web Browsers for PC and Mac - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/desktop-browsers/)

6:55 [Ad-Free Privacy Tool/Service Recommendations - Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/tools/)

7:14 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v\_50cBtSjyQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_50cBtSjyQ)

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## Post 2 by @anon4124882 — 2026-02-17T20:34:32Z

People reading: add this channel to your RSS, you get notified sooner. Also, a better way to ensure you don’t miss it.

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## Post 3 by @anon19752758 — 2026-02-17T22:58:35Z

Interesting video!

I’d probably change the title to be less sensationalist and clickbaity though and avoid saying/writing things like “true privacy”.

Keep up the good work though :slight_smile:

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## Post 4 by @anon65963525 — 2026-02-17T23:10:07Z

It would be interesting to know how Trivalent browser compares.

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## Post 5 by @anon66548238 — 2026-02-18T10:21:56Z

Why was Mullvad Browser with a trustworthy VPN not mentioned?

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## Post 6 by @any1 — 2026-02-18T16:38:59Z

At 5:18 it is said that “is designed to make every user look the same” in regard to the Tor Browser. This is not true, since that is not possible. What the Tor Browser attempts to do instead is to reduce the number of possible “buckets” users can fall into.

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## Post 7 by @JibJab — 2026-02-22T18:22:33Z

This is ancient history how does any not know this in 2026?

Many people including myself were aware of this deception well before the 2020 lawsuit was even filed and settled for $1.38B in 2024. [Google Agrees to Delete ‘Incognito’ Browsing Data to Settle Class-Action Lawsuit | TIME](https://time.com/6962521/google-incognito-lawsuit-data-settlement/)

in 2025, this $5B class action was filed [Google to Face $5B Lawsuit Over Tracking Users in Incognito Mode](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-to-face-5b-lawsuit-over-tracking-users-in-incognito-mode/399113/)