Incognito/Private Browsing Makes You Anonymous Online

Private browsing modes clear local cookies and browser history but do nothing to hide your IP address, traffic patterns, or identity from websites, your internet service provider, or network administrators. Sites still log your requests and associate them with your IP; advertisers still track you through cookies placed during the session; your ISP can still monitor all traffic. The term 'private' describes the relationship between the browser and the user's local device, not between the user and the internet at large. True anonymity requires a VPN, Tor, or similar technology that masks your IP and encrypts traffic, features incognito mode explicitly lacks.