Can the use of private browsing + a 3rd-party VPN at the same time be considered reasonably private?
Is Private Browsing Really Private?
41–50 of 59 posts
Re: Is Private Browsing Really Private?
#42"DuckDuckGo is the search engine that doesn’t track you." so obviously this article has marketing lean. While private browsing is not actually private I feel going so far as to say it does not stop websites from collecting info on you is maybe a bit too far. The site can still collect information about you, yes. But unless you sign in while in private browsing or the site is using some sort of user-agent / IP tricker…
> so obviously this article has marketing lean. The domain belongs to the DuckDuckGo blog.
To be clear, I assumed everyone knew it was DuckDuckGo's blog because of the logo and everything. I didn't see it as safe to assume everyone knows what they do.
For what it's worth I applaud their efforts and their product. I just think this article is biased (and that's OK).
Re: Is Private Browsing Really Private?
#43Sad that a DDG blog is on medium.com :/
Re: Is Private Browsing Really Private?
#44Not really private, just keeps your local machine clean. Despite TeMPOraL's labeling it "porn mode" my most common use case is if I need to log into my Google account from my wife's laptop I'll use an Incognito mode window in Chrome so that I don't have to log her out of her Google account.
Is there a reason you don't use the people switcher? https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2364824?co=GENIE.Pl...
The people switcher is a godsend for web dev work. I have one for my normal work window (email, ticketing, etc), and two for various types of test accounts. It's SO useful to not have to constantly log in and out. Thank you!
Re: Is Private Browsing Really Private?
#45Re: Is Private Browsing Really Private?
#46Sad that a DDG blog is on medium.com :/
What's wrong with Medium? I used to run my own blog software. I don't recommend it unless you really need to micromanage the implementation. Most people do not. This is why I let Medium handle all the intricacies of publishing my blog so I can just write.
Re: Is Private Browsing Really Private?
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there a reason you don't use the people switcher? https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2364824?co=GENIE.Pl...
I don't use it because it requires that I switch back. My wife won't be bothered to deal with learning the people-switcher (there's no reason she should, it's really her laptop in question), so using incognito means that once I close the window, it's clean again. It's a lot easier to remember to close the window than it is to remember to switch back to her account. The option I finally chose to go with, is to install…
I'm in the same boat, well aware of chrome option to switch accounts, but the simplicity of dual browsers wins when two people use the same login regularly.
Also I get to keep up to date with changes in firefox.
Re: Is Private Browsing Really Private?
#48"DuckDuckGo is the search engine that doesn’t track you." so obviously this article has marketing lean. While private browsing is not actually private I feel going so far as to say it does not stop websites from collecting info on you is maybe a bit too far. The site can still collect information about you, yes. But unless you sign in while in private browsing or the site is using some sort of user-agent / IP tricker…
"I feel going so far as to say it does not stop websites from collecting info on you is maybe a bit too far."
This is not a personal attack. Just have to address this. If you think that you cannot be identified because you use a "private" window in a browser when you were using a logged in browser 30 minutes before from the same IP with the same OS and the same screen size, with the same background apps making the same http requests, you are mistaken. Your entire search history is fingerprinted, associated, shared, and sold. And this is just scratching the surface. As a mild example, Facebook associates IP's with Facebook accounts, then tracks Chromecast requests from those IP addresses to sell that information to media streaming companies. Everything you do, everything you like, everywhere you visit, is one metadata search away. Duck Duck Go cant fix all that, but they can keep no IP correlated search history. And that says alot considering that in todays market that information is worth millions.
Re: Is Private Browsing Really Private?
#49"DuckDuckGo is the search engine that doesn’t track you." so obviously this article has marketing lean. While private browsing is not actually private I feel going so far as to say it does not stop websites from collecting info on you is maybe a bit too far. The site can still collect information about you, yes. But unless you sign in while in private browsing or the site is using some sort of user-agent / IP tricker…
"I feel going so far as to say it does not stop websites from collecting info on you is maybe a bit too far." This is not a personal attack. Just have to address this. If you think that you cannot be identified because you use a "private" window in a browser when you were using a logged in browser 30 minutes before from the same IP with the same OS and the same screen size, with the same background apps making the sa…
I can see my origional point was too broad to be defensible. But I was trying to explicitly talk about fingerprinting when I said...
> unless you sign in while in private browsing or the site is using some sort of user-agent / IP trickery it won't be automatically tied to your accounts
I am aware fingerprinting exists. I have done fingerprinting.
I am also aware that for advertisers fingerprinted data is not as valuable as login keyed data and a lot of places don't bother to do it. Acting on fingerprinted data often triggers the "creepy factor" and actually turns off the consumer from the product. I know several advertisers that will not allow using it for that reason.
I was not saying it can't be done. I didn't imply it did. In fact I believe a study a few years ago showed that fingerprinting is something like 99% accurate if you can execute javascript code to read things like screen resolution.
I was taking objection to assuming it is absolute that it does not prevent tracking and that it is automatically useless.
Does it stop Google? No way. Facebook, doubtful. But does it stop some sites? Absolutely. On many sites it is very effective.
Re: Is Private Browsing Really Private?
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there a reason you don't use the people switcher? https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2364824?co=GENIE.Pl...
I see you do UX at Google. Thank you for asking users questions like this (I really hope you were asking sincerely, not rhetorically). Please talk to users more.
Certainly. I don't work on Chrome, but I'm being sincere and I'm curious of the use case. There may be a better solution here.