Using a computer or internet-connected mobile device at home feels like a very private activity, right? You’re literally in the privacy of your own home, interacting with the world via a screen. Even if you’re in the same room as someone, you’re probably browsing by yourself and not sharing what you’re doing with anyone around you. But browsing the internet at home is lot like picking your nose in the car: You might feel like it’s a private space, but in reality there are a bunch of people watching what you’re doing and taking note.

That’s because, during normal browsing, the websites you visit are collecting a lot of data about who you are and what you’re doing. Here’s a breakdown of some of your information that companies are collecting without your knowledge.

Information about your computer

Web sites can tell not only the browser and version that you’re using, but also your operating system and the version you’re working with. They can also tell what brand and model device you’re using, your screen resolution, system fonts, the size of your browser window, and even the color depth of your screen. Finally, they can tell your IP address, which is the unique address your computer uses to communicate with the internet, and your MAC address, which is a unique set of numbers assigned to your computer hardware.

Where you’re located

You might be thinking, “So what? Who cares if they know what kind of computer I use?” And that’s fine — you might not care. But you probably care about this one: Web sites can figure out where you’re located. Your MAC address and IP address already give them a lot of information about who you are, but sites can also track your time zone, language, and your exact geo-location. We’re talking latitude and longitude, so this is a super accurate kind of tracking.

What you’re doing online

In addition to tracking what sites you’re visiting, browsers and websites can track what plugins you have installed, whether or not you’re using a proxy, how fast your connection is, what ad blockers you’re using, and whether or not you’re logged in to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Google.

Are you scared yet?

Or maybe just angry? While we usually know that people are watching when we pick our noses in the car, most people don’t know that all of this personal information is being gathered every time they go online.

Most of the popular browsers have introduced private browsing options to address privacy concerns, but the name is something of a misnomer. Private browsing erases browsing history after you’re done with a session and also doesn’t allow cookies, which are little bits of collected data that identify you to a website. Private browsing doesn’t block all of the other stuff listed above, so while it might protect you from snooping significant others or kids who don’t need to know every website you visit, it doesn’t protect you from browsers and websites who can do what they want with your private information.

What does protect you is Tenta. We’ve designed our private browser to be truly private and encrypted. In fact, it’s so private that we don’t even have access to your data. With Tenta, you can pick your nose in peace — there’s truly no one watching.