Mozilla to launch free built-in VPN in upcoming Firefox 149

pogue

I often use Opera browser's free proxy they offer for basic browsing or blocked sites. They advertise it as a free VPN but it's merely a proxy. As far as I know, it's unlimited traffic and you can choose the region it connects to. Edge also has some Microsoft VPN with a very small amount of bandwidth for the free tier. I'm fine with this kind of stuff as long as people are aware it doesn't offer the same connectivity as a full paid VPN.

userbinator

As a Firefox user: if I want a VPN I'll use an actual VPN. Focus on making a great browser, and not all this distraction. Also, "free": "If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold"

notepad0x90

I usually defend Mozilla with these things, but I'm a bit bearish on this. It's not like they're not relying on big partnerships already for their survival. I don't have a problem with free to long as there is a paid plan, which I don't see on their announcement page. I don't care who is running a free-only VPN is a huge red flag, and I am one of those people that recommends using VPN services instead of running your thing on a VPS or something. What worries me is this will get adoption and they're start talking about profiting from it via "differential privacy" Or, even worse for the web is a more realistic problem: Firefox is notoriously hard to manage in an enterprise fleet. Their biggest hurdle to marketshare is just that, chrome works well with windows, linux and mac a like and lends itself to management. I'm frequently fighting to be allowed to use Firefox already personally. This poses a direct threat to enterprise security policies. Anyone who bans random free vpns in their networks, now has to include Firefox to that list. And I don't need to mention how bad that is for the web given Google will effectively be the gatekeeper of the entire internet, even the tiny marketshare Mozilla has will be crushed. I wonder if in retrospect, this seemingly mundane feature would be the death-blow to the only alternative browser ecosystem.

bobsmooth

Where's the money for this VPN going to come from? The ads they insert into my home page or the CEO's inflated compensation?

ars

Free VPN's are usually funded by agreeing to route some VPN traffic for other people though your own network. They basically work as mixers, randomizing traffic throughout the VPN population. This can expose users to legal risks, but but can also add plausible deniability at the same time "it wasn't me, it was someone on VPN".

ChrisArchitect

Source: https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/firefox-148-149-new-feat... ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47415420 )

Animats

Now, from the people who brought you Pocket. Could they please stop integrating services into Firefox? Thank you.

looopTools

As I understand it, it is just like in Opera. So a proxy not a VPN. I honestly find it distasteful that they may call it a VPN without it actually being one.

Panzerschrek

> Mozilla said the free tier will initially provide 50GB of monthly data to users in the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Sadly no countries are mentioned where such VPN is really needed (due to strict internet censorship).

prophesi

Do they name the service provider of this VPN or how it works? The official announcement is just as sparse on the details.

isodev

You know what would be actually cool and a transformative improvement? Mozilla to make an iOS port of Firefox and publish it in regions where Apple has been forced to allow it.