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Reasons Why You Should Surf The Internet Using The Private Browser Option

by Felix Omondi
Reasons Why You Should Surf The Internet Using The Private Browser Option

Reasons Why You Should Surf The Internet Using The Private Browser Option

The internet has become part and parcel in most people’s lives, and whether you know it or not, there are parties interested in knowing just exactly what you are doing online; ranging from advertisers, social media networks, fraudsters, hackers and even the United States government security agents.

Reasons Why You Should Surf The Internet Using The Private Browser OptionThere are also other parties in our immediate environment too, who can easily track our online activity ranging from our significant other, kids, workmate and even boss. Just to mention a few. All these people don’t require a lot of technical knowledge, software or hardware to know what we have been up to while online. So if you would rather this not be the case, then the following are a few suggestions Innov8tiv shares with you today on how to keep your online activity private to yourself.

All of the popular internet browsers come with a private browsing option. Although it is not active by default, you have to activate it in the following ways:

  1. In Google Chrome browsers, this feature is called Incognito, and you can activate it by pressing Ctrl+Shift+N when using Windows, while users on Mac press space bar+Shift+N.
  2. Users using the Internet Explorer can activate private browsing by clicking Ctrl+Shift+P.
  3. Users on Mozilla Firefox can click Ctrl+Shift+P while on Windows and Command+Shift+P while on a Mac.
  4. On the Safari browser, private browsing option is activated manually by clicking the Safari menu bar and then selecting the Private Browsing option.

The above procedures are the necessary steps to activate private browsing option on the popular browsers on either Windows or Mac. The following are some of the incidences where private browsing would be most prudent:

  1. Whenever you are using a public computer. By default a regular browser saves all of your browsing histories, so whenever you find yourself using a public computer ensure your switch the browsing mode to private otherwise you will have to clear browsing history when you are done. But often, most people forget to clear browsing history.
  2. When you are using a shared computer; especially in homes where one computer is shared among the family members. A family has different characters some with ulterior motives and a shared computer make it easy to find loopholes for spying on others. There are cases, where it might be useful to conceal your online activities from your family members; I can think of a million, one of which being when shopping online for that special surprise gift for a family member.
  3. When you want to see, the search results other users see from search engines. Popular search engines rely on algorithms, your basic information and search history to bring you the most relevant search results personalized for you. This is always very helpful of course, but it also means that if you run a search on your own name, there is a chance you will not see what your potential employer might see. So if you want to test your search results against a clean search history state, then private browsing is the way to go.
  4. To override Paywalls. There are some new websites especially for news such as The ‘New York Times’ that have erected Paywalls effectively restricting readers to only 10 articles readership per month. More than that, readers have to sign up for a digital subscription. To get pass these Paywalls you can simply switch to private browsing, and such site can’t determine just how many you have read so far based on your browsing history.
  5. Keeping your shopping history private. Shopping sites such as Amazon use your browser cookies to track your online activity. Using such data, they bombard you with advertisement of products you searched earlier. This is not only creepy but also could set you up for an embarrassing situation should you be viewing the screen at the same time with another person, yet before that, you were browsing for a wart cream, nose trimmer or sex-related products.

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