Mozilla Launches ‘Firefox Private Network’ VPN Service as a Browser Extension

Mozilla has officially launched a new privacy-focused VPN service,
called Firefox Private Network, as a browser extension that aims to encrypt
your online activity and limit what websites and advertisers know
about you.

Firefox Private Network service is currently in beta and
available only to desktop users in the United States as part of
Mozilla’s recently expunged “Firefox Test Pilot” program that lets
users try out new experimental features before they were officially
released.

The Firefox Test Pilot program was first launched by the company
three years ago but was shut down in January this year. The company
now decided to
bring^[2] the program back but
with some changes.

Firefox Private Network is the Test Pilot program’s first new
project.

Firefox Private Network — Mozilla’s VPN Service

Like any other best VPN
service, Firefox Private Network also masks your IP address
from third-party online trackers and protect your sensitive
information, like the website you visit and your financial
information, when using public Wi-Fi.

Mozilla says its Firefox Private Network “provides a secure,
encrypted path to the web to protect your connection and your
personal information anywhere, and everywhere you use your Firefox
browser.”

Firefox Private Network also works the same way as any other VPN
service.
^[4]

The Firefox Private Network VPN service also encrypts and funnels
every Internet browsing activity of yours through a collection of
remote proxy servers, thereby masking your real location/identity
and blocking third parties, including government and your ISP, from
snooping on your connection.

The actual proxy servers for the Firefox Private Network
extension is provided by Cloudflare, the company that offers one of
the biggest and fastest CDN, DNS and DDoS protection services.

For those concerned about the data collection by Cloudflare,
Mozilla promises “strong privacy controls” to limit what data
Cloudflare may collect and for how long it may store that data.

How To Sign Up For Firefox VPN Service

Firefox Private Network currently works only on desktops but is
believed to be made available for mobile users as well, once the
VPN exits beta.

Although the Firefox Private Network service is currently free,
Mozilla hinted that the company is exploring possible pricing
options for the service in the future to keep it
self-sustainable.

For now, if you have a Firefox account and reside in the United
States, you can test the Firefox VPN service for free by signing up^[6] on the Firefox Private
Network website.

Once installed on your desktop, the Firefox Private Network
extension will add a toggle on the toolbar of your Firefox web
browser so you can easily turn it on or off at any time.

What’s your take on Firefox Private Network? Let us know in the
comments below.

^[1][3]