Private Browser

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Does private browsing mode really private?

Not really. It basically just aims to avoid storing history and cookies on your local computer.

You can improve things with a good VPN that focuses on privacy. I have a paid ProtonMail account and use the ProtonVPN included with it.

Use both the VPN and the private browsing.

I don't really need it, but just for fun my cell phone is almost always using the VPN and routes the traffic through both Iceland and the US.

One time just for grins, I used it to route my path for an ssh connection to a computer across the hall from my office through both Stockholm, Sweden and Tokyo, Japan. It was definitely slower than just using the office network, though.

You CAN clear incognito history, but you have to use chrome. I'm still trying to find out how to on Silk Browser. (I was never allowed a phone until a few years ago and had to use a tablet)

I'm no expert, but my current belief is there's at least one major privacy weakness in all traditional browsers - they always tell the websites you visit what your IP address is, and they might also tell them your device profile. And I was surprised to read that they also tell the website the previous page you were on, though I hope that's a myth. No idea why, if those things are true, they don't allow you to turn them off in settings. Is it something to do with the website needing your IP address so that it knows where to send its page data?

Maybe the Tor browser is more private?

From what I have learned from the limited research i have done in this area, about the only way to get privacy on the internet is to use a VPN. Even then you need to do some research on which VPNs are the most private. I have heard good things about Nord VPN. I tried Surfshark but it slowed some things down too much. The best offense is a good defense. Don't post anything on line you don't want to government to know about you.