How to browse privately in Firefox

To protect yourself from tracking and regain some control over your privacy, you can turn on private browsing and enable the Do Not Track feature in Firefox with a few configuration steps.

Private browsing stops Firefox from remembering the websites and pages that you visit, data you have entered into forms, passwords, and downloads. This doesn’t stop websites or your employer from tracking which pages you visit – you are not anonymous when using the private browsing mode.

You can see if you are in private browsing mode by looking for the purple mask at the top of your browser window.

Note: You will need to start a new Private browsing window each time you use Firefox.

Open a new private browser window in Firefox

  • Click the menu button (☰) to the right of the toolbar, then click New Private Window.You can also open any link within a page that you are viewing in a private window
  • Right click on the link, then click Open Link in New Private Window.

Turn on the Do Not Track feature

You can turn on an additional tracking protection feature which uses a list provided by Disconnect to stop many companies from collecting your browsing history. Turn on the Do Not Track feature to stop websites from storing tracking cookies.

  1. Click the menu button (☰) to the right of the toolbar, click Preferences, then select the Privacy
  2. Click on the link manage your Do Not Track settings, and make sure the checkbox is selected for Always apply Do Not Track.

Does a private browser window really protect you? 

The short answer is no, it’s is not a guarantee to keep your online footprints from being collected. Firefox has however implemented better private browsing by blocking some of the companies that tracks your online behaviour.

How do private search engines make money?

If you want to use a private search engine, one of the question that often is askes is “How do they make money?”. There various ways a search engine can keep you privacy and make money. See the comparison chart and learn more about private search engines.

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