What is Do Not Track?

The Federal Trade Commission, in early December, announced it would promote the addition of easier "do not track" mechanisms in web browsers out there but will not seek legislation that makes adding these controls to any web browser out there mandatory. So, like with most topics in the on going browser wars between Google, Mozilla and Microsoft everybody is claiming they are doing something first to help protect the users out there.

What About Private Browsing Mode?

Ah ha, I see you have been paying attention.  Yes, Firefox does have the private browsing mode embedded into the browser.  This feature simply prevents information about your browsing activity from being saved to the PC.  It does not make you anonymous on the Web. 

So, Are All Cookies Evil?

No, not all cookies are evil.  To take a step back, browser cookies are tiny text files stored on your PC from browsing that are set to remember certain things about you. Cookies are most often used for website authentication, storing website preferences, link click tracking and more. The scare factor here has to do with cookies from third parties, such as advertisers, and their ability to track more information about you. Most browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome, do allow third-party cookies by default, though they allow users to block them.

Here is how I have my own Firefox set up to clear browser cookies and history each time I start Firefox up:

• Clear Junk When Firefox Closes

So the good news is that more privacy protection is coming to Firefox and all other browsers in 2011.  The question is do we really need protecting?

There has been a pretty cool update to Firefox in the past 24 hours.  If a plugin crashes or freezes, it will no longer affect the rest of your browser.  You will be able to reload the page, restart the plugin and try again.

So, the next time Adobe Flash, Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight plugins give you trouble, Firefox has you taken care of.  Say your watching a video or playing a flash game in the browser, and the plugin crashes – rather than taking the whole browser down with it – you simply just refresh the webpage.

Here is a little more information from Mozilla:

Mozilla recognizes that third-party plugins provide important functionality in many of today’s websites. At the same time, plugins can lead to problems for users as they browse. With the ability to automatically alert users when they have out of date plugins, and now crash protection, Firefox 3.6.4 allows users to experience all the content they love without any of the hassles.

To get this new update, if it hasn’t downloaded already, just go to Help in your menu bar and then “Check for Updates”.  A more secure and stable browsing platform is coming your way.  Who doesn’t like that?

Taking a deeper look at the new site identification button inside of Firefox 3, dria.org does a good job at taking it apart and showing you what it is all about.  Honestly, it takes the padlock in browsers past and puts a whole new useful spin on it.   No longer is it just a yes or no answer on if a site is safe.  You get all kinds of useful information delivered right to you in a way you have yet to see in a next generation browser.

Check out more about Firefox 3: Site Identification button!

If your PC is used by more than one person though there is a security issue you may need to worry about when it comes to showing others your login information.

By default, if you go under Tools, then your Options and then the Security section, anybody could get in there and look at your user names and passwords – as long as they had access to your PC. To fix that you want to set a master password.

First go to Tools and then Options. From there your Firefox options window should pop up and you want to go to the Security tab. From there check the box that says “Use a master password”. Now another box should come up asking you for your master password – type it in twice, and make sure you remember it.

Now when you go to Tools, Options, Security and then under the Passwords section hit the “Show Passwords…” button it should ask you for your master password before showing all your saved password information.

On the other hand though, Firefox is a “stupider” browser (no offense to my Mozilla friends) so it is harder for deviants out there to get it to do their evil deeds. No matter if you like Firefox or not, you have to admit there are a lot of great extensions out there that can make your browsing a lot safer. Nothing beats common sense, but having some of these extensions installed should be a good first line of defense.

+ Check Out All 9 Firefox Security Extensions!

• Decodes URLs for better readability
• Hides featureless parts of URLs
• Reduces the spoofing risks of URLs

+ Learn More About and Install the Locationbar 2 Extension for Firefox!