If you don’t like Firefox Focus for some reason, DuckDuckGo has an app that also works well as a burner browser.Īs for my desktop, I tend to use the Tor Browser, even though it’s slow. Select DuckDuckGo, a search engine that doesn’t save searches, tie it to an account, or sell your data to advertisers.Tap the three-line icon, and then tap Settings > Search Engine.That’s the only thing you need to change, and here’s how: I just wish Google weren’t the default search engine. I use the Firefox Focus app for this purpose because it’s (mostly) private with little setup: It blocks ads and trackers by default, it doesn’t support tabs, and it allows you to delete browsing history with a single tap. It can autofill addresses from a list of 450 top sites-not from your history-though you can turn that feature off, too. You can trash the history with one tap when you’re done. 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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