杏吧原创

Private browsing windows aren鈥檛 as private as people think. When asked simple questions about what private browsing actually means, many people get it wrong.

All major web browsers offer 鈥減rivate鈥� modes, including Incognito Mode in Chrome, InPrivate in Edge and Private Browsing Mode in Firefox. These stop the browser from saving surfing history, log in information and cookies.

However, many people incorrectly believe that private browsing also protects them against computer viruses, targeted ads, geolocation, and tracking by employers and governments, says at Leibniz University Hannover in Germany.

Part of the problem is that private browsers do not properly explain their scope in the disclosure statement that users see when they open them, she says.

Acar and her colleagues explored people鈥檚 understandings of private browsers in a study of 460 men and women aged 18 and above who were recruited online.

They asked the participants to read a disclosure statement for a fictional private browser called Onyx, then quizzed them about what sort of protections it offered. The participants were unaware that the fictional disclosure statement was actually a real one taken from Chrome Incognito Mode or one of five other popular private browsers.

Hoodwinked

Even after reading the disclosure statement, many participants still had misconceptions about private browsing.

For example, the proportion who incorrectly believed that their government or employer could not when in private mode was 23 and 37 per cent respectively. This could lead to problems if, for example, their employer spotted them 鈥減rivately鈥� looking up job ads, says Acar.

One way to get this sort of protection, would be to use a virtual private network (VPN) that聽masks which websites that are being accessed.

Additionally, 27 per cent of people mistakenly believed that private browsing offered greater protection against viruses, and 31 per cent thought it completely blocked targeted ads. Just over 40 per cent also incorrectly believed that their location could not be estimated when in private mode.

The findings suggest that private browsers鈥� disclosure statements should be more upfront about their limitations so that users are not lulled into a false sense of security, says Acar.

For example, they should clearly explain that even though browsing history is not tracked by the private browser, it can still be tracked by the overarching internet service provider, she says. As a result, employers and governments can still access this information.

Similarly, they should explain that even though private browsing filters out many targeted ads, it doesn鈥檛 block them all, Acar says. This is because ad companies have developed sophisticated fingerprinting techniques for tracing users in private mode, she says.

Private browsers should also be renamed to convey their limitations, says Acar. 鈥淭he term 鈥榩rivate鈥� is heavily overloaded, and our results suggest the name 鈥榩rivate mode鈥� implies unintended meanings,鈥� she says. Her team is currently testing other possible names to find one that is more accurate and informative.