Mozilla's private browsing mode is very commonly referred to as 'porn mode.' Considering this, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the conclusion most people jumped to when the results of Mozilla study revealed that most people are using it for roughly 10 minute periods at lunchtime.
Mozilla yesterday revealed the findings of a test pilot study detailing at what point people switch on private browsing, and for how long. Though Mozilla obviously didn't record what users were doing during their private browsing and the study was done on an opt-in basis for Firefox 4 Beta users, the results do provide some insight into when people are browsing the web anonymously and when they're happy to have Mozilla record their history.
Mozilla says they see spikes in private browsing at lunchtime, around the time people arrive home from work and school, after dinner, and for an hour or two after midnight.
"The 25th percentile stays on for about 4 and a half minutes, the 75th percentile around 22 minutes, and the median stays in for about 10 minutes.
Though it's certainly possible (and a lot of fun to assume) that people are switching to private browsing mode to look at naughty websites, it's also possible that overall browser use goes up at lunchtime, when people have more time to browse the web. It's also plausible that people are more inclined to engage in online shopping or banking during their lunch period and want to keep their bank details safe and secure.
