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The new "private browsing" feature of current web browsers (InPrivate in IE8, PrivateBrowsing in Firefox 3.5 and Incognito in Chrome) is teased as being "porn mode" but there have got to be some more interesting and legitimate usages. An often cited example is the public terminal (library, airport, etc), but what are others?

For example, I recently wanted to check my Facebook, web mail and Stack Overflow accounts on a friends computer, but also leave no trace of cookiess or cache behind, so I used this mode. Also, in a recent web development scenario, we used this mode as a way to avoid clearing cache and cookies while debugging a problem.

What are you interesting ways of using private browsing?

Update: Just ran accross Nine Great Uses for Private Browsing that Don't Involve Porn at lifehacker.

  1. Logging Into Your Stuff on Others' Computers
  2. Testing and Debugging Web Sites
  3. Manage Multiple Google Apps Accounts
  4. Put Up a Facebook Wall
  5. Avoid Autofill History on Public Computers
  6. Planning Surprises
  7. Shopping for Gifts
  8. View "Risque" Content (Not Porn)
  9. Leave a Smaller Footprint at Work
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You mean porn isn't interesting? – grawity Jul 18 '09 at 17:59
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closed as off topic by random♦ Aug 6 '10 at 17:46

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8 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted

I haven't done this myself, but one example I've heard before is using private browsing when you're using someone else's computer, so that you don't add to their cookies/caches/history/etc.

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+1 I do this all the time. – Dan Walker Jul 18 '09 at 17:29
I have my girlfriend turn on private browsing when she uses my browser so she doesn't have to log me out of all my always-open web apps. :) – musicfreak Aug 5 '10 at 20:55
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up vote 4 down vote

I think its totally useless at best, and at worst potentially very dangerous.

If I'm on my own PC and want to do something private I just clear the cookies and history afterwards so this feature is useless. What does it gain me?

It's not really private. As technical people we all understand that it means cookies are deleted and history isn't stored. We understand that something 'in the middle' such as a router or a proxy can still record everything. But if my wife saw a private browsing mode she would assume it meant it was totally private.

This gives a false sense of security.

If I'm on a public computer I don't do anything that is private. I always assume that anything I do on a public computer is exactly that, totally public. For example. I would never log onto my banks website on a public computer, with or without a private mode. I'm concerned that a "private mode" will relax non-tech users to the point where they will do things they wouldn't normally do. A private mode doesn't boost security at all, but it gives the impression that anything you are doing is now private when nothing has really changed.

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I don't agree with you here; it private mode not secure mode. The words have completely different meanings. – Mark Aug 3 '09 at 7:45
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To you they do. Ask my mum what private mode means and she'll say it means that no one else can see what she is doing. Ask her if that means that it's OK to enter her bank details and she will say yes. 99% of internet users don't understand security or computers. Things need to be made totally clear. Users don't understand what SSL is, or https or the subtleties of the technical differences between private and secure. They just think that private means what they are doing is private, so they are safe. – Simon P Stevens Aug 3 '09 at 8:37
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Just tried it on FF - there's a large disclaimer about how your ISP or employer can still see you. – Phoshi Dec 31 '09 at 22:43
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Chrome has a similar disclaimer. It even warns you about tracking cookies and government surveillance. – Emory Bell Dec 31 '09 at 22:48
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up vote 2 down vote

You mean it isn't actually called Porn Mode? Oh... my mistake ;-)

Also, it's not entirely new... Safari has had it for ages... maybe that just says something about us Mac users!

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wow 2 hours before someone mentioned pr0n... of course... for what else? ;-) – fretje Jul 18 '09 at 19:35
mac users...... – Refracted Paladin Jul 18 '09 at 20:05
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up vote 2 down vote

I use it to let people check their gmail on my computer without logging me out.

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up vote 1 down vote

Public Computers

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up vote 1 down vote

Firefox used to say that it can be used for holiday shopping or for organising a surprise party.

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up vote 1 down vote

I use it for internet banking, even on my own computer.

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I don't understand why you would do this. Private mode doesn't gain you anything in terms of security. – Simon P Stevens Jul 18 '09 at 19:14
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Marginal security, but only guarantees your banking session is fully cleaned by erasing the cookies so XSS can't occur. Banks should provide that feature anyway. Also guarantees no information disclosure about what banking sites you use. – Kent Fredric Jul 18 '09 at 19:42
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up vote 0 down vote

Porn mode...poor women...

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