The time is 12 am, the sky is pitch black, and everyone in your household is asleep as they should be; it’s just you and your phone doom scrolling… OR is it? The unfortunate fact of the matter is that as long as that little black square is with you, you’re not. Your phone was made with the express purpose of watching whatever you’re doing to build an advertiser profile and to adjust the algorithm to your preferences.

This means two things for us

1. If we look at something harmful for long enough, the algorithm will start to give us recommendations around it, making it harder for us to kick the habit.

2 Every sin we think his hidden has potentially hundreds of hidden witnesses.

Why is this a problem?

If you’re around my age, companies hoarding our data doesn’t seem like a big deal anymore. I mean, Facebook has been stalking us our entire lives. However, if we view that in context with the day of judgement:

“On the Day their tongues, their hands and their legs will testify against them of what they used to do.” – 24:24.

Meaning, we will not be able to speak for ourselves or hold back what we used to sin, so the more creation knows our sins, the more risk we carry for something testifying against us on the day of judgement.

The Myth of Incognito

Incognito mode, especially on Google, is a security blanket; it’s there to make you think that you’re concealed. There was a class action lawsuit against the company for exaggerating the level of privacy users have. The only thing it hides is… your browsing history… from other people using your device or account. Technically, third-party cookies are blocked as well. But companies can still find you through your device and browser specifications, your IP address, and your ISP, and can still load tracking scripts. Does this sound very incognito to you? Other browsers aren’t much different, though some are more private than others.

“I’ll use a VPN”

A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, functions by acting as an intermediary between you and the website you’re visiting, making it harder for you to be tracked. The problem is that consumer-grade VPNs still aren’t completely anonymous. If the service is free, then they are using your data to sell to advertisers, completely nullifying the benefit beyond side-stepping regional restrictions, and illegitimately getting lower prices on games (I do not recommend doing this, as it harms developers).

The Bottom Line

No matter how you try to get around it, the hard truth is that when using a device connected to wifi, we are not alone and need to behave as such as much as possible.

Most importantly, even if we were actually hidden from the prying eyes of advertisers, we still need to avoid digital sins. If the people aren’t watching Ash-Shaheed (The Witness) and His angels are.

“When the believer commits a sin, a black spot appears on his heart.” -Sunan Ibn Majah 4244

Regardless of whether a sin is committed in private or public, it still does damage to us. The moral of this post isn’t to cover your tracks better. It’s to encourage you to show extra caution when it comes to your digital hygiene.

Regardless of whether a sin is committed in private or public, it still does damage to us. The moral of this post isn’t to cover your tracks better. It’s to encourage you to show extra caution when it comes to your digital hygiene.

“Tell ˹them, O  Prophet˺, “Do as you will. Your deeds will be observed by Allah, His Messenger, and the believers. And you will be returned to the Knower of the seen and unseen, then He will inform you of what you used to do.” -Qur’an 9:105