Any accounts you’re signed into in your other browser windows are not signed into in the private browsing window, meaning you can’t be tracked as a user of those sites. A new browser window opens, and none of your activity in that window is added to your browser history. This feature has different names on different browsers - on Chrome, it’s called Incognito, and on Microsoft Edge, it’s called InPrivate - but it acts more or less the same on all of them. Sometimes, you might want to browse the web without your browser keeping track of all your activities. What it doesn’t do: Stop sites from tracking your IP address. Activity in private browsing mode is also not added to your browser history. What it does: Opens a new browser session that isn’t signed in to any accounts and doesn’t utilize cookies. Private browsing: Stop your browser from tracking you Let’s go through all the different tools you can use to browse the web privately, covering what they do and don’t do to protect your privacy. Knowing which privacy tools to use depends on which of these things you’re concerned with keeping private. There are other methods, but these are the main tracking tools as of this writing. Your fingerprint isn’t necessarily unique, but it can be used to track you even when everything else has been concealed. This site lets you see what this information resembles. This information includes what browser and operating system you’re using, as well as your resolution.

Your online fingerprint or user agent string: This data is comprised of all the information your computer sends out to web servers while requesting a website.

The web would be very annoying to use without them, but cookies are also sometimes used to track users for advertising purposes.

Cookies: These are small text files generated by sites to save, among other things, your preferences on sites.

Things like Google Analytics or the ubiquitous “Like” button could, in theory, track your browsing activities on behalf of those companies.

Accounts you’re signed into: Companies like Instagram or Facebook use your data to track your activity on those respective sites, along with other webpages, thanks to embedded code.

Any site you visit can log your IP address, which could later identify you.

Your IP address: This is a series of numbers generally set by your internet service provider (ISP) that are necessary for accessing the internet.

To understand how these tools work, you first have to understand what can be tracked:

Tor: Route your traffic through other users’ computers.

Virtual Private Network (VPN): Mask your IP address.

Do Not Track: Ask sites not to track you.Private browsing: Stop your browser from tracking you.

Private browser with vpn