For all my weekly musings on the Internet and its many offerings, I’m tame when it comes to actually surfing the Web. My cyber-forays are pretty much limited to news sites, my bank and various other housekeeping-related functions.

So, for me, sneaking around the Web anonymously has never really been much of an issue. Maybe I’m being naïve about the threat of identity theft or maybe I’m just lazy. (My bet is on lazy.)

For some people, however, protecting their identity is of utmost concern. That’s why several of the major browsers - Apple’s Safari, Google and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer - offer Web browsing tools that let you be the proverbial fly on the wall.

It’s called incognito browsing.

Google’s version is called Chrome. At Apple, it’s Private Browsing. Microsoft’s entry to this market is called In Private.

Though they go by different names, these browsers more or less offer the same thing: They erase your footprints.

That is, they delete cached pages and browsing history, as well as shut down the browser’s autocomplete function, which can reveal whatever has been recently typed.

An added benefit - aside from protecting you from snoopy relatives - is that you’re also protected from the many data-mining software programs that aggressively hunt down your behavioral info while you’re out browsing the Web.

The level of protection you’ll receive from these data miners depends on the browser you’re using.

Safari’s Private (www.apple.com/safari) browsing feature really is geared to keep out nosy neighbors whereas Google’s Chrome (www.google.com/chrome) covers your tracks and stores all cookies in a temporary folder. Once you close the program, the cookies are deleted.

While these browsers duke it out for supremacy, there may already be a leader of the pack: Mozilla Firefox.

With Firefox, you can add whatever privacy plug-ins your heart desires. That’s because Firefox, with its open platform, has many open-source apps available free. For example, Distrust erases all browsing evidence. Adblock kills the ads as well as any noxious cookies they try to send.