Regardless of your browser, your phone releases all sorts of identifying signals, such as your IP address, to potentially tie together your clicks on search results for “Weird Al biopic” with a search for “what is Roku Channel.” But using a privacy-preserving, history-destroying browser for your most unhinged or sensitive searches creates hurdles, if not barriers, for tracking companies.įirefox Focus is a good option for a burner browser when you need to do a quick sensitive or embarrassing search. To be clear, a burner browser doesn’t totally stop companies from tracking all the dumb things you search for on your phone throughout the day.
But by using a burner browser, I’m compartmentalizing the stupidest part of my brain (the part that searches mostly for nonsensical trivia I’ll immediately forget) from the useful part of my brain (the part that had to write this article). I still use a standard browser for work, where I want a history, saved logins, and other tracking-based conveniences. I’ve used this dual-browser setup for years so that every random product, trivia, or health-related search doesn’t follow me around for days or weeks. This is one of the reasons I tend to use a “burner browser,” one that doesn’t save any history and is disconnected from my accounts.
Some inane things I recently searched for from my phone: “how tall is Robert Pattinson,” “Bob Dylan with mustache,” and “Rogue Legacy 2 double jump.” All things that are mildly embarrassing, only momentarily useful, and certainly not a fair representation of who I am as a person.
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