Firefox development programmer Ehsan Akhgari announced, in his personal blog earlier this week, that a new ‘Private Browsing’ mode will be available in ‘pre-release’ versions of Firefox 3.1.

Credit: Ehsan Akhgari

Akhgari explains: “… While you browse the Web, your browser usually records a lot of data which will later be used to improve your browsing experience. For example, it records a history of all the Web pages you have visited, so that later if you need help remembering a site you visited a while back, it can assist you in finding that site. Now, that is great, but there is a downside: those data can be used to trace your online activities.  For example, if your coworker sits at your computer, she can view all of your browsing history, which may not be what you want.”

In a nutshell:

“Private Browsing aims to help you make sure that your web browsing activities don’t leave any trace on your own computer.”

Akhgari also stresses that Private Browsing only erases all traces of your activities on your Firefox browser on your computer. It does not render you anonymous on the Web sites you visit.

Critics are already warning that Private Browsing will make it harder for parents to monitor their kids’ surfing activities and may make it more tempting for people of all ages to access pornography and other adult content, both at home and at work.