Are you concerned about YouTube spying on your private activities? What should do you do to prevent unwanted data collection? You can try to watch YouTube in Incognito mode. So, how to use YouTube's Incognito mode? This post from MiniTool will show you more details.
When you log into your Google account, YouTube can remember every video you watch and it uses this history to recommend new videos to you. That’s good in theory, because YouTube can tailor its recommendations to what it thinks you might like. For some people, that’s not a bad thing.
However, there may be situations where you don’t want YouTube to know every video you watch. Luckily, Google now allows YouTube users to keep their viewing activities secret on the platform if you don’t want an embarrassing video to change your YouTube experience.
You can watch YouTube in Incognito mode. Keep reading.
Incognito Mode Explained
Google recently introduced an Incognito mode for YouTube, similar to their Chrome web browser. You can simply enable this feature, and then you are able to hide your activities from YouTube and overlords in Google.
Now, you are allowed to watch all of your guilty pleasures without fear of judgment. Besides, there are additional benefits for those with safety concerns.
As mentioned earlier, YouTube tags all the videos you watch on the platform. This has two functions: recommending other videos you might like and collecting data.
YouTube collects information about the videos you watch so it can target ads to users. If this method of data collection makes you uneasy, you can enable Incognito mode to prevent this from happening and reclaim some privacy.
How to Turn on Incognito Mode on YouTube?
You may wonder how to use YouTube’s Incognito mode right now. For now, YouTube’s Incognito mode works only on Android devices. Unfortunately, it’s unclear when or if the feature will be available on other devices.
Also, be aware that even if you block YouTube from collecting your search and browsing history, your school or employer can still see what you’re doing as long as you’re connected to their network.
To turn on YouTube’s Incognito mode, open the YouTube app and tap the circular profile icon in the top right corner of the screen. This will open the account management screen. Find the Turn on Incognito option and just click it.
When you enable Incognito mode, a message pops up on the screen explaining exactly what it is and what it does.
Now, you should be able to watch YouTube in Incognito mode. Basically, in Incognito mode, YouTube won’t remember anything you watch. Therefore, what you watch in Incognito mode will not affect what you are advised to watch.
You may be interested in this topic: How to Turn on or off Restricted Mode on YouTube.
Update YouTube If You Can’t See the Incognito Option
If you can’t see the incognito option, make sure YouTube installed on your device is up to date. To do this, open the Play Store app and click on the three lines stacked in the top left corner of the screen.
A menu will appear and you can click My apps & games. Then, you can download and install pending updates for all your apps by clicking UPDATE ALL, or you can just update the YouTube app by clicking the UPDATE button next to it.
Pause Your YouTube History to Be Collected on IOS
If you don’t use Android, that doesn’t mean you can’t protect your privacy activities. Fortunately, if you are an iOS user, you can stop YouTube history collection to prevent YouTube from monitoring and recording your activities on the platform.
To pause the collection of your YouTube history, follow these instructions. Open the mobile app on your iOS device and click the circular account icon. Then, select Privacy > Pause search history. After that, this will prevent YouTube from recording the videos you search for in the app.
If you watch YouTube primarily through a web browser, you can still prevent it from spying on you. Simply open a Private/Incognito window in the browser of your choice and finds YouTube.com here. A Private/Incognito window will force YouTube to treat you like a random stranger.
You may be interested in this topic: How to Delete YouTube History Automatically.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, this post has shown you how to watch YouTube in Incognito mode and how to prevent data collection in detail. If you have other better ideas on how to prevent unwanted data collection, let us know in the comments.