Mozilla is working on a built-in VPN for Firefox, with beta tests opening to select users shortly.

According to a staff post on Mozilla Connect, the company’s idea-sharing platform, Firefox VPN is still an experimental feature in the early stages of development, but users will be selected at random to test it “over the next few months.”

Moz describes the feature as one that will sit beside the search bar on Firefox, routing web traffic through a Mozilla-managed VPN server, concealing the user’s real IP address while adding a layer of encryption to their communications.

Firefox VPN is a different project entirely from Mozilla VPN, a separate, paid-for product. The Firefox version will be free to use and confined to the browser itself, while Mozilla VPN can be used by up to five devices at a time.

The Moz staffer on the product team who announced the feature said of the upcoming beta test: “We’ll start simple, then gradually add new capabilities while learning how it impacts browsing, usage, and overall satisfaction.

“Our long-term vision is ambitious: to build the best VPN-integrated browser on the market.”

In response to feedback, the staffer noted that while it will be a desktop browser feature first, “mobile is definitely a natural next step.”

The small cohort of Firefox users selected to try the feature will need to register for a Mozilla account, and the VPN location will default to the one that offers the best performance.

That means US users will default to US servers, so no foreign Netflix sessions for now. Mozilla did not say whether it plans to allow users to change the location of the VPN server later in the beta, or when it is rolled out formally.

Alternatively, users can simply opt out of the test by clicking “no thanks” on the popup that appears in their browser. They can also right-click the icon and select “Remove from Toolbar” after the fact, and re-enable it via the Add-ons and Themes menu if they change their mind.

Mozilla will only store users’ logs for three months before they are deleted, and only collect “the technical data needed to keep Firefox VPN reliable and secure.”

“For example, we may log whether a connection succeeded or failed, or record that your account used 2 GB of data on a certain day,” it said in a knowledgebase article.

“This helps us improve performance, prevent abuse, and plan for growth. Logs linked to your account are automatically deleted after three months. Importantly, Firefox VPN never logs the websites you visit or the content of your communications.”

Mozilla will keep hold of the overall bandwidth stats gathered during the course of the beta, but said these are aggregated across users and thus can’t be traced back to any given tester.

Talk of infosec town

VPNs have been a hot topic lately, especially in the UK, as their use surged within hours of the Online Safety Act’s mandatory age assurance checks coming into force.

The UK government has insisted that it has no intention of banning VPNs for adults, which have been used pervasively to bypass age checks.

The same can’t be said for kids, however, as England’s children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza, suggested last month that a ban for under-18s could be beneficial to ensure the Online Safety Act performs as intended.

VPNs are also used routinely to evade geo-blocks from certain websites, limiting access to content such as movies and TV shows, and live sporting events.

Ofcom, which regulates the Online Safety Act, demands in-scope platforms demonstrate they are taking action against common methods of bypassing the legislation’s intended restrictions.

Some platforms, such as Reddit and YouTube, actively work to block VPN traffic already, while others remain under investigation for various failings in this respect, it said this week. ®