title: Chrome/FF/Safari extension: Load hidden web page in incognito-like mode
body: <p><strong>Is it possible to build an 'incognito mode' for loading background web-pages in a browser extension?</strong></p>
  
  <p>I am writing a non-IE cross-browser extension that periodically checks web-pages on the user's behalf. There are two requirements:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Page checks are done in the background, to be as unobtrusive as possible. I believe this could be done by opening the page in a new unfocussed browser tab, or hidden in a sandboxed iframe in the extension's background page.</li>
  <li>The page checks should operate in 'incognito mode', and not use/update the user's cookies, history, or local storage. This is to stop the checks polluting the user's actual browsing behavior as much as possible.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p><strong>Any thoughts on how to implement this 'incognito mode'?</strong></p>
  
  <p>It would ideally work in as many browser types as possible (not IE).</p>
  
  <p>My current ideas are:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Filter out cookie headers from incoming/outgoing http requests associated with the page checks (if I can identify all of these) (not possible in Safari?)</li>
  <li>After each page check, filter out the page from the user's history.</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Useful SO questions I've found:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17299322/chrome-extension-loading-a-hidden-page-without-iframe">Chrome extension: loading a hidden page (without iframe)</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20143974/firefox-addon-development-open-a-hidden-web-browser">Firefox addon development, open a hidden web browser</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19076691/identify-requests-originating-in-the-hiddendomwindow-or-one-of-its-iframes">Identify requests originating in the hiddenDOMWindow (or one of its iframes)</a>  </li>
  </ul>