Chrome Incognito Mode For Android Isn’t As Discreet As You Think

There is a reason why you might choose to browse the web or certain websites using Chrome’s Incognito mode, a feature which is supposed to keep what you’re doing under wraps from those who might use the same browser later. However it seems that on the Android version of Chrome, Incognito mode isn’t quite as incognito as you might think.

In a post on Reddit, it seems that user Mas_Zeta has recently discovered that Android’s Notification Log actually keeps track of a lot of things that you do on your phone, such as when you play videos. For the most part this is normal to be expected, except that the Redditor also discovered that the log also keeps track of the videos you watch while in Incognito mode as well.

“I often use the notification log if I accidentally dismiss a notification. If you play videos on Chrome, a notification appears with the video title and basic controls. This shouldn’t be a problem in normal mode but if you’re using incognito mode then the video title gets listed on that registry and you probably don’t want it to do so.”

It also seems that you can’t clear this log, although Mas_Zeta suspects that it only stores notifications from the last boot, so maybe rebooting your phone could clear it. It is unclear if this  was an oversight by Google, a bug, or maybe it was intentional, but either way it’s worth keeping note of if you do watch NSFW videos on your phone and think that you’re safe while browsing in Incognito.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones, General
Tags: Android, Apps, Chrome, Google, Privacy