But I'm Working, Honey. Why Do You Need to Reformat the Drive Right Now?

The private mode built into the major browsers is supposed to let you cruise the Web without leaving any trace of your travels on the machine, providing peace of mind to people using public PCs or poking around the sketchier online neighborhoods. Now some Stanford researchers have rattled that peace, finding that even in private browsing mode, certain user settings, plug-ins and webmaster techniques can leave identifiable tracks behind. The study also confirmed that the nickname “porn mode” is rightfully earned. As the researchers wrote, “We find [private browsing mode] to be more popular at adult sites and less popular at gift sites, suggesting that its primary purpose may not be shopping for ‘surprise gifts.'”