Mozilla’s standalone Firefox VPN is now available in beta

On Feb 20, 2020

Mozilla has a new virtual private network service and if you have a Chromebook, a Windows 10 computer or an Android device in the US, you can start using a beta version now. Called Firefox Private Network, the new service is designed to function as a full-device VPN and give better protection when surfing the web or when using public Wi-Fi networks.

The company offers two options: a free browser-extension version, which it launched in beta last year, that provides 12 one-hour VPN passes when using the Firefox browser and a Firefox account; and a second, $4.99-a-month option that provides a more complete VPN service across your whole device.

The new paid option, which runs off of servers provided by Swedish open-source VPN company Mullvad, can protect up to five devices with one account. It allows for faster browsing and streaming, and gives you the ability to tap into servers located in “30-plus countries” for masking your location data.

It works on Windows 10, Android and Chromebooks, with Mozilla touting that iOS is “coming soon.” Support for Mac, Linux and additional countries are also in the works.

According to Mozilla, the premium option won’t monitor or log any user data. The company’s free version, which is provided by Cloudflare, however, “temporarily logs unidentified browsing history and deletes this data within 24 hours as a mechanism to detect and handle abuse on the network.”

Mozilla does add that, “Neither Firefox nor Cloudflare is able to associate usage with users, as each party holds partial aspects of this data which are never joined.”

The move is a much-needed step up in security, especially for those who travel. Whereas an incognito mode can delete your web history, those looking to prevent trackers from their internet provider and add an extra layer of protection when using open networks should use a VPN.