Et Tu, Mozilla? Firefox 3 To Get Privacy Mode 326
CWmike writes "Mozilla will respond to Google's Chrome and Microsoft's IE8 with its own private-browsing, or 'porn' mode in Firefox, according to notes posted on its Web site, and is on track to deliver one in 3.1, the version that will likely go beta next month."
Pivacy, Private, or Porn Mode (Score:2, Interesting)
By default I put my snail mail in envelopes (keep my correspondence private), by default I put on clothes (keep my privates... private), and by default I expect the police are not searching my house or tapping my phone (4th Amendment privacy). Why isn't my browser private by defa.... oh wait, it's not my browser, it belongs to MS Google Mozilla, nevermind.
Missed a trick (Score:5, Interesting)
What I would personally like is to be able to add certain sites to a password-protected "privacy list", so that visits to those sites would be stealthed, while visits to other sites would not. I don't want to have to start a special private session, which seems like a pretty lame way to do it. Mozilla should have looked at how to improve this feature by adding something like that, for example. Unfortunately it looks like Mozilla are just implementing the same thing as IE and Chrome, instead of looking to improve on it.
Re:Sod privacy! (Score:5, Interesting)
People having to hide pleasures from their wifes/SOs makes me sad (Y_Y)
Re:Is Anyone Acutally Still Using Firefox? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Not About Pornography (Score:2, Interesting)
"Make no mistake, this is a disruptive technology. Marketers will not like it. Webmasters will not like it. Google will not like it."
In case you missed it, Google put this feature into their own web browser product. I get it. People are afraid of Google because they are very large and powerful. But all this scaremongering and anti-Google sentiment is, IMO, unfounded. Yes, they have had instances where their "Don't be evil" pledge has been tested. However, overall, I have not seen them do anything "evil". I have seen many scaremongers and tinfoil hatters speculate on Google's "evil" intentions. But I have not seen Google step across that black-and-white boundary into "evil" territory.
Secondly, I understand people not wanting to be tracked. It scares them. I understand that online ads and spam are bane of the web. People hate them. I hate them. That is understandable. However, ad revenue is what drives the internet economy. Without it, you would have to pay a subscription to (almost) every site you frequent. Sure, there would be free sites just like there is free software. But the majority of content producers would require a subscription fee to enjoy their content. Ads make the internet free.
Tracking makes ads more relevant to each individual user. Although you (and those like you) see tracking as evil, tracking actually helps reduce the number of ads that are completely irrelevant to you. I would much rather see ads for tech products than for women's shoes or the latest hip hop CD.
You fear these private companies having all this information about you and your online habits. But what is the threat? Are you afraid they will provide products and services that meet your individual need? I am much more concerned with governments compiling such information than private companies.
Re:Pivacy, Private, or Porn Mode (Score:3, Interesting)
By default I put my snail mail in envelopes (keep my correspondence private), by default I put on clothes (keep my privates... private), and by default I expect the police are not searching my house or tapping my phone (4th Amendment privacy). Why isn't my browser private by defa.... oh wait, it's not my browser, it belongs to MS Google Mozilla, nevermind.
The privacy is relative to people who can access your computer. I'm assuming you don't normally expect strict secrecy from your wife regarding your correspondence, your house, your phone, and your...privates. If you do expect that, you'll probably have to engage in non-default behavior. Just like here.
Re:And Responding to Safari... (Score:3, Interesting)
That's pretty funny; the nightlies of Firefox display a giant warning when you try to go to that site, because it has a self-signed certificate!
Here's a different link that won't force you to add an exception to your browser. [mozilla.org]