[ssalka]

Is it just me, or was it always clear that the only thing Incognito mode does is not write to your local browser history? Google's gonna Google, and that means collecting as much of your information as possible.

Maybe I'm just jaded & tech-savvy, but I figured way more people would have understood this.

[Sohcahtoa82]

> Maybe I'm just jaded & tech-savvy,

The tech-savvy part is what matters.

Try asking a non-technical relative what they think Incognito does, if they even know that it even exists.

[Ferret7446]

It's not "tech-savvy". It's "has half a brain cell", which unfortunately...

I can assure you that there are tech illiterate people who can read and think and have no problems understanding incognito mode. Then there are people who can't read or think (definitely not at the same time), which is highly correlated with being tech illiterate.

[Sohcahtoa82]

In a perfect world, I'd agree.

But modern computing appeals to the lowest common denominator. Tech illiterate people really know nothing. My in-laws didn't know that who their home internet provider is has no effect on how their phones work when they're not at home.

[wmf]

Incognito also uses separate cookies from your main session which is the tracking that people are concerned about.

[fnfjfk]

That’s my take, that it has always been understood to be “stuff you don’t want in your browser history” mode.