Browsers are taking privacy quite seriously these days, first IE8 announced the availability of InPrivate mode ^[1] for history-less browsing, this was followed up with Google Chrome ^[2] it up with the Incognito mode ^[3] which allows you to start a private browsing session, without storing anything in the history. Safari too has a private browsing feature, which it had introduced over two years ago.

Close on the heals of these browsers, Mozilla has announced the inclusion of Private Mode ^[4] (which many also call as Porn mode, for obvious reasons :) ) for Firefox 3.1 ^[5].

For instance, users may wish to begin a private browsing session to research a medical condition, or plan a surprise vacation or birthday party for a loved one. Use cases will range from users cheating on their spouse, to users buying engagement rings. Given the breadth of our user base, specific use cases are likely to be extremely varied.

Leaving out the private mode from Firefox 3.1 would have definitely been a step back for Mozilla, since the most popular browsers already have this feature built-in.

You can still use private or porn mode in Firefox with the help of a Firefox extension ^[6] called Close’n Forget ^[7] which was a runner-up in the Extend Firefox contest ^[8]. What is your take on the private browsing features in the browsers?