🤫'Incognito Mode' is really can hide everything?

Many people use their browser's 'Incognito Mode' or 'InPrivate Mode' to protect their personal information online or to secure accurate test data.

But does it really work? Can website operators truly not see you when you visit in Incognito Mode?

An Unexplained Indexing Issue on a Wix Website

Recently, an unexplained indexing issue on my Wix website caused a sharp drop in visitor numbers. I took this opportunity to conduct an interesting experiment: 'To what extent can data analysis tools (like GA4) track my footprints if I visit a website using different browsers and connection methods?'

Through this article, I hope you'll uncover the truth about Incognito Mode and the process of online data tracking that you've always been curious about.

🧪 Test Overview

For an accurate comparison, all tests were based on Google Analytics 4 (GA4)'s 'Realtime report'. I confirmed that the 'Active users in last 5 minutes' was zero before attempting to connect from each different environment.

• Tracking Verification Tools: Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Meta (Facebook) Events Manager (GA4 is one of the most popular and free-to-use analytics tools available to anyone.)

• Test Environments:

  • Desktop: Chrome, Edge, DuckDuckGo browsers (Normal Mode / Incognito or Private Mode)

  • Mobile: Samsung Internet, Chrome, DuckDuckGo

• Test Process

Image showing tracking from Chrome Browser - Tracking Confirmed

[Image showing tracking from Chrome Browser in Incognito Mode - Tracking Confirmed]

[Image showing tracking from Edge Browser - Tracking Confirmed]

[Image showing tracking from Edge Browser in InPrivate Mode - Tracking Confirmed]

[Image showing tracking from (Mobile) Samsung Browser - Tracking Confirmed]

[Image showing tracking from (Mobile) Chrome - Tracking Confirmed]

[Image showing tracking from (Mobile, PC) DuckDuckGo Browser - Tracking Not Confirmed]

📊 The Shocking Result: Most Connections Were Being Tracked

To get straight to the point, most connections made in Incognito Mode were successfully tracked by GA4.

1. Chrome & Edge Browsers (Normal Mode vs. Incognito/InPrivate Mode)

• Not only in normal mode but also in Chrome's Incognito and Edge's InPrivate modes, key information such as visitor, location, and visited pages were recorded in GA4 in real-time. 🤔 Why is Incognito Mode tracked? This is a common misconception. The core function of Incognito Mode is 'not leaving a record on my computer,' not 'not leaving a trace on the website's server.' This means that while your Browse history and cookies are deleted from your PC when you close the browser, the website's analytics scripts (like GA4) operate normally and send data to the server during your session. Your IP address is also not hidden.

  Sources:

  1. How Incognito Browse works on the Google Chrome Help Center.

  2. What is incognito mode and how does it work? by Lenovo.

2. The Privacy-Focused Browser: DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo's tracker blocking notification

• No records were left in GA4 from either the desktop or mobile app. The reason can be inferred from the notification that appears when launching the DuckDuckGo browser, such as "We blocked a tracking attempt by Google.

  🛡️ Why isn't DuckDuckGo tracked? The DuckDuckGo browser goes beyond simply deleting records; it actively blocks the tracking scripts embedded in webpages. Since it prevents the loading of scripts necessary for analytics tools like GA4 to operate, the website isn't even aware that a visitor has arrived.

  • Source: What Is DuckDuckGo? on the official DuckDuckGo Blog.
    

3. 🕵️‍♂️ At-a-Glance Comparison: Incognito Mode vs. Privacy-Focused Browsers

After seeing the test results, you might be wondering, "Don't they both protect privacy? What's the difference?" Here’s a simple table summarizing the key differences.

Feature	Incognito Mode (Chrome, Edge, etc.)	Privacy-Focused Browser (DuckDuckGo, etc.)
Primary Goal	Prevents leaving records on your device (PC/Mobile).	Blocks online technologies that track you.
How It Works	Deletes Browse history, cookies, and form data upon closing.	Actively blocks website tracking scripts, ad fingerprinting, etc.
Website Tracking (GA4)	Possible ✅ (Your connection record is sent to the server).	Almost Impossible ❌ (The tracking script itself doesn't run).
IP Address Hiding	No ❌	No ❌ (It's different from a VPN).
Best Use Case	Using a public computer, sharing a device with family.	When you don't want your online activity used for ads or data collection.

Simply put, Incognito Mode is like cleaning 'your room.' No one inside the room (your device) knows what you did, but you can't hide the fact that you left the house (visited the website).

On the other hand, using DuckDuckGo is like wearing an 'invisibility cloak.' It prevents trackers from identifying you when you go outside. (Of course, it can't completely erase your 'footprints,' i.e., your IP address. For that, you would need a VPN.)

4. Mobile & Other Environments

• Samsung Internet & Mobile Chrome: Both were tracked normally.

• Meta (Facebook) In-App Browser: There was a delay of about 30-40 minutes after the visit, but it was ultimately tracked. This delay seems to be caused by the way data is processed through Meta's servers.

  

  Meta Data set
• 

  Meta event manager

📈 Anomaly: The Data Discrepancy Issue (Why Pageviews Are Doubled) 

I discovered something interesting during the experiment. Even though I visited a page only once, the page_view event was counted two or more times in GA4.

This phenomenon can often occur in environments using No-Code web builders like Wix or certain web frameworks. It's presumed that the way the page loads or certain interactions (like scrolling or clicking) unintentionally trigger additional pageview events.

Furthermore, a mix of server-side tracking methods, like the Meta Conversions API I use, and GA4's client-side tracking can lead to discrepancies in data aggregation.

Meta Pixel, Conversion API sistuation

💡 Wait! What is the Conversions API? It's a technology where the website server, not the user's browser (client), directly sends customer behavior data to ad platform servers like Facebook. It is less affected by cookie or browser tracking blockers, enabling more accurate data collection. (You can check if you are using the Conversions API by hovering your mouse over the dataset in your Events Manager Overview.)

As you can see, analytics data may not be 100% accurate. Analysts must always question 'why these discrepancies occur' and go through a data cleansing process.

✨ Final Conclusion & Recommendations 

Through this experiment, we've learned several important facts.

1. Incognito Mode Does Not Guarantee Anonymity: While useful for simple privacy purposes, Incognito Mode cannot completely hide your online tracks. Most analytics tools, like GA4, can track users in Incognito Mode.

2. For True Anonymity: Using a privacy-focused browser with built-in tracker blocking, such as DuckDuckGo or Brave, is more effective.

3. Advice for Data Analysts: The analytics data we see can have errors due to various technical factors (page loading methods, server-client tracking differences, etc.). Basic event counts like page_view can be inflated, so it's crucial to understand the characteristics of the data and develop the ability to interpret it with corrections.

4. Meta Pixel alone can identify the location and number of page visits (data was available after about 30-40 minutes).

5. Browsers not yet analyzed, like Safari, may introduce other variables, so it's necessary to understand the specifics of each browser. (Safari, for example, hinders tracking by restricting cookies. Its Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) focuses on limiting cookie activity rather than directly blocking the GA4 script. It blocks third-party cookies that track users across sites and shortens the lifespan of first-party cookies. This makes it difficult for GA4 to recognize 'returning users' but doesn't stop basic data collection within a single session unless advanced privacy modes are enabled.)

Ultimately, a perfect online 'secret' is hard to achieve. Users must wisely choose the right tools for their purposes, and data analysts must be able to see through the surface of the collected data.

(Sources)

• Google Chrome customer service: Private browser operation infromation

• DuckDuckGo official blog: What Is DuckDuckGo?

• Meta for Business: Conversion API Info