Mozilla boosts privacy with latest Firefox 4 beta

Mozilla has released the 11th beta of Firefox 4 to developers and early adopters, promising tighter privacy controls and a Do Not Track feature which should protect personal and sensitive information.

New features in the latest Firefox 4 beta are easy to implement for less technical users, according to Mozilla, requiring only a few tweaks under the Advanced section of the browser's options menu to set up.

The Do Not Track feature means that visited sites are sent a header saying that the user wants to opt out of any behavioural tracking system used to gather profiles.

Privacy and data issues are becoming more important, and the new Firefox features could breathe new life into a browser that is increasingly challenged by Google’s Chrome.

The latest Firefox 4 beta is available now for subscribers on Mac, Windows and Linux computers. Firefox 4 Beta for Mobile is currently available on Maemo and Android devices.

The new release also places tabs above the address bar, making it easier to organise tabs, add-ons and bookmarks, according to Mozilla.

Further updates, including a new JägerMonkey JavaScript engine, boost start up times, page loads and graphics rendering, and Mozilla said that users will " notice the difference immediately".

Crash protection is also a key part of the release. Browsing will not be interrupted by failures in Adobe Flash, Apple QuickTime and Microsoft Silverlight regardless of whether users are running Windows, Linux or Mac computers, Mozilla said.

The release comes just a day after Mozilla announced a product roadmap that includes the promise to speed up releases and development time, and introduce Firefox 4, 5, 6 and 7 this year.