Glossary
Shared network
A shared network is any internet connection you do not control - a workplace or campus connection, hotel or cafe wifi, a housemate's router - where whoever runs it can see which sites your device reaches out to. Encryption protects the contents of those connections, not the fact that they happened.
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Where you see it
As the sign-in or captive portal page when you join, as a network that quietly blocks adult domains, or simply as the wifi you are on without having thought about who administers it.
Why it matters
Site addresses stay visible to the network operator even on an encrypted connection, and on a managed work or study network that record may be logged and reviewed under an acceptable-use policy you agreed to. Private browsing does nothing about this - it works on your device, and the network sits outside it. If the network is the layer that worries you, the browser is the wrong place to look.