Is private browsing traceable on iPhone?

09-Mar-2023

Private browsing is a convenient privacy feature offered within Safari, Apple’s proprietary internet browser. As such, it is available as standard on all devices running iOS, and this includes iPhone. As an iPhone user, you may have some questions about private browsing with Safari, specifically regarding the extent to which this setting actually serves to protect your privacy online. Let’s discuss.

What does private browsing do on iPhone?

Safari’s private browsing function enables users to stop their iPhones from recording data related to their online activities. This extends to information such as browser history, search history, and login information with autofill. Moreover, it prevents your searches from syncing and appearing on any other Apple devices you own.

Private browsing enables prevents your prior searches from affecting your search engine results, and saves you from having to manually delete your history. However, it does not protect your privacy beyond this.

How am I being traced online?

When you connect to the Internet, your IP address is visible. This unique sequence of numbers identifies your device on a network, making it possible for such organizations to trace your browser. Even when using private browsing in Safari, your device’s IP address remains visible, meaning that parties like ISPs, network admins and government agencies can trace your activities and access information about your location and device.

There are also other ways that you can be traced online. Logging into online accounts, such as on social media sites, for instance, will enable such sites to trace you. Moreover, browser fingerprinting can make it possible to identify you on a network, even if cookies are not in use.

All of this means that private browsing can be traced on iPhone. As a result, ISPs and websites can identify you on a network and potentially impose restrictions on you, which can hinder your online experience.

Tips for protecting your data privacy when on iPhone

There are a number of different measures you can take to increase avoid being tracked and increase your privacy online. The following are some examples:

Avoid logging in

As was mentioned above, logging into your online accounts makes it easy for you to be identified and traced, so you should avoid doing this whenever you use private browsing mode on Safari. This will help to limit the number of websites that can potentially track your activities.

Use a private search engine

Not all search engines are made equal. The reality is that most collect user search data and utilize it for their own purposes, whether that means improving their services or simply selling the data to generate profit.

Thankfully, there are some search engine options which place greater emphasis on user privacy. DuckDuckGo, for instance, employs a policy which means that it doesn’t use tracking cookies to gather information like user IP addresses. Using such a search engine can help you to avoid being traced. This will prevent dynamic search results and targeted advertisement, ensuring a cleaner, more private experience for you.

Activate iPhone’s native privacy features

Aside from private browsing, iPhones also come with other native privacy features. By accessing Safari in the Settings app, for example, you can enable the Hide IP address feature, which can help to protect you from trackers.

In addition, you can use iCloud Private Relay in the iCloud section of the Settings app. This feature will ensure that website requests are routed through secure relays when you browse. This helps to protect your identity online so that you can browse freely and with privacy.

Get a VPN

When striving to achieve a greater degree of privacy online, a virtual private network is undoubtedly the best solution available.

When connecting to the Internet using a VPN app, your traffic is sent through a secure tunnel to a remote server, which acts as an intermediary between your device and the websites that you access. A VPN enables you to mask your IP and appear as a user in a different location. Moreover, it encrypts your data traffic, making it harder for third parties to trace and track.

In this way, using a VPN service will enable you to browse the Internet with complete anonymity.

Conclusion

In the age of big data, there are more parties than ever before trying to trace and track our online activities. When using your iPhone to go online, it is worth taking the time to enable private browsing, as this can help you to avoid certain types of trackers. However, it is by no means sufficient protection by itself. In order to truly protect your data online, you must use supplement your device’s native privacy functions with the right software solutions. With this in mind, it’s safe to say that a VPN service is an absolute must when browsing on iPhone.