<p>A researcher from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee has discovered that Chrome&#8217;s incognito or private mode is not as private as we thought it is.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone wp-image-2722 size-full" title="incognito" src="https://www.wincert.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/google_search_tablet.jpeg" alt="incognito" width="640" height="427" /></p>
<p>Although collected data in incognito mode appears to be anonymized, Google can identify this data with username or other user info during the browsing session.</p>
<p>In other words, when you access and sign-in to a website in incognito mode, login details are sent to Google. Digital Contect Next, a company who organized this <a href="https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2018/08/21/google-data-collection-research/">study pointed out</a> that ads served by Google can be linked to cookies from browsing sessions in or out of incognito mode.</p>
<p>Google responded by calling this report as &#8220;wildly misleading information&#8221; and that it was ordered by a professional DC lobbyist group. This report is an addition to data allegations for Google Maps that is accused of collection location coordinates even if the Location History is turned off.</p>
<p>Professor Douglas Schmidt who was in charge of this review said that Google uses the vast reach of its products for collecting detailed information about consumers browsing and real-life behavior.</p>
<p>This information can then be used for paid advertising which results in significant advertising revenues for Google.</p>
<p>Google responded to the critics by saying that Google provides clear descriptions of their tools so consumers can turn off tracking features and delete their browsing histories at any time.</p>