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Think Incognito Keeps You Hidden? Here’s What Your ISP Still Sees in South Africa 2025
You might think incognito means invisible, but think again
Picture this: you flip into incognito mode, hit the latest episode on your streaming service, and lean back. Feels private. But in truth, your provider sees more than you realise. Even in South Africa in 2025, your internet service provider still has a clear line on many habits. What they can’t see is the full content of encrypted websites, but that doesn’t mean you’re invisible.
What your provider can track
When you browse the internet, your ISP (internet service provider) logs some pretty regular stuff. They can note the domain names of the websites you visit, for example, “news-site.co.za” or “bank.co.za.” They know when you visited, how long you were there, and how much data you used during the session. Your IP address, which ties to your connection and general location, is also visible.
What if you’re in incognito mode? That just clears things on your device; it doesn’t stop the provider from seeing your activity in their logs.
Even if you connect through a VPN, they’ll still see a connection to a VPN server; the contents get encrypted, but the fact of the connection remains.
What remains hidden behind encryption
Good news: when you visit a website with HTTPS (look for the padlock in your browser), your provider cannot read the specific pages you view, the text of your emails, or the search terms you type within a secure site. They see that you connected to “securebank.co.za” but not what you did once inside.
That means a chunk of your online habits is protected, but only under the right conditions.
Rules, laws, and the South African difference
In South Africa, the law gives you more protection than you might think. The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) has been fully in effect since July 2021, and in April 2025, its regulations were strengthened.
The 2025 amendments make it simpler for you to object to how your data is processed, to request corrections or deletion, and to consent to direct marketing. These updated regulations were gazetted in April 2025 and further tightened how consent and direct marketing work under POPIA. Organisations that collect personal information must improve transparency and allow you to exercise your rights more easily.
Your ISP cannot legally prowl your every click just because it runs the network. They are bound by law when they collect, use, or share your data, especially if your identity is involved.
Why your ISP collects this data
You might wonder why your provider is tracking all this in the first place. Some of the reasons include:
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Managing the network and allocating bandwidth (especially during peak times)
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Measuring how much data each connection uses (think of fair-usage policies)
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Legal compliance, such as providing connection logs if law enforcement requests them
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ISPs may share aggregated or anonymised network insights for marketing or analytics, but South Africa’s POPIA law prohibits them from selling identifiable browsing histories or personal data.
In short, your provider holds more than just “you watched a cat video” data, though not quite what you might fear.
What you can do if you care about privacy
You have options. Here are key steps to take if you want to limit what your ISP can see:
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Use websites and services that show the padlock (HTTPS) so your connection is encrypted.
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Consider a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which encrypts your traffic end-to-end and makes it much harder for your ISP to see what you’re doing (they’ll see you linked to the VPN, not the sites after).
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Use encrypted DNS services to obscure which domain names you request (this hides some of the “which websites” detail from your provider).
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Be mindful of what you do on unencrypted sites; if there is no padlock, then your activity may be accessible.
The bottom line for South Africa in 2025
Yes, your ISP in South Africa can see a fair amount of your online life, the domains you visit, how long you stay, how much data you use, and your IP address. Under RICA, however, they must retain certain communication-related records for lawful access if a valid court order is issued, though this does not include the actual content of your messages. But new laws under POPIA and its 2025 amendments mean there are stronger protections than ever before. They cannot quietly dig into the precise content of your communications on secure services.
Think of it like someone who knows you visited a shopping mall at a certain time, but cannot see the shop names you went into or what you bought inside. Because browsing via incognito or private mode doesn’t hide your connection from your ISP, the real control lies in encryption, legal rights, and your own awareness.
In a world where nearly everything feels online 24/7, understanding what your provider can and cannot see is a first step to staying one move ahead and feeling a little safer in the digital bustle.
Also read: TikTok Gone Wrong: The South African Trends That Could Land You in Court
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Featured Image: Network-King
