Why Private Browsing Matters

Bronson O'Quinn
Aug 22, 2017 · 2 min read
Blurry “incognito” spy from Chrome

It’s called “Incognito” in Google’s Chrome browser or “Private Browsing” in Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer. Upon release, these methods of discretely browsing the web have been called “porn mode” because they don’t track your history, which might make it embarrassing to talk about in a work environment. Unfortunately, the developers play into this, using icons such as a creepy little “spy guy” in Chrome or a lurid masquerade mask in Firefox. But these private browsing modes are one of the most useful tools for your work or home life, and it’s not for the reason you’d expect.

You Can Use Two Active Accounts

I can check my work GMail account in my main browser and my personal Gmail in another browser. Or, when I’m at work, I have a different DropBox account than our “organization” account, and sometimes I need to log into one while still using the other. Or maybe I’m trying to show the Marketing Director how a Facebook page looks from my account and I don’t want to waste time logging out of her account, then logging back in.

There are so many reasons why you would want to have two accounts open from the same website that I’m surprised there aren’t more articles about this feature. Even when people write articles about non-porn uses, they focus on the privacy aspects. But being able to have two accounts open for the same service is extremely useful.

Hopefully people start taking advantage of this feature. And hopefully the developers will stop creating embarrassing icons so that people don’t feel creepy using it at work.

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Bronson O'Quinn

Written by

Designer, developer, database administrator. He writes novels, poetry, and nonfiction. He loves his cats. You can read his video game zine at MazeRats.com.

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