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Brave private tab7/19/2023 The value of conducting qualitative research lies in providing a holistic understanding of the phenomenon under enquiry using predominantly subjective qualitative data, which can be later supplemented by quantitative data. ![]() We do so by conducting a qualitative, interview-based study with users and non-users of private browsing. We also study users’ private browsing habits. In this work, we seek to explore why users misunderstand private browsing by investigating their mental models of private browsing and its security goals. However, prior work has not investigated why users misunderstand the benefits and limitations of private browsing. Further, the vast majority of respondents had misconceptions about private browsing - such as incorrectly believing private browsing protects against visited websites, ISPs, and governments. Most surveyed respondents were either unaware of private browsing, or did not use it. Prior work has quantitatively (through survey studies) investigated whether users are aware of private browsing, what they use it for, and whether they understand what it does. It is a special mode that allows users to browse the Internet without saving any information (e.g., cookies, temporary files) about the websites they have visited in private mode. Private browsing is a privacy-enhancing tool, where the web browser does not record users’ private browsing activities on the local device. The final findings will be submitted as a paper in the next several weeks. ![]() ![]() This ongoing research is being conducted by Ruba Abu-Salma, a Ph.D student in Computer Science from University College London (UCL), and Brave’s Chief Scientist, Dr.
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