> "If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold"

This is such a un-nuanced take.

In this case Firefox's route-to-market is the product. It's a distribution channel where some people who receive the free version will upgrade.

Free tiers for products where some will pay to upgrade seems like a reasonable compromise, but it does depend on how the deal is structured.

If Mullvad pays Firefox for the free users then Firefox's incentives are aligned with its users.

If Mullvad pays per conversion then it's a different story.

Mozilla only makes the integration between the browser and the VPN, not the VPN network itself - Mozilla VPN is white label Mullvad.

  Also, "free": "If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold"

Do you live in 2010? Whether you pay for a service or not is irrelevant to selling your data nowadays.

> "If you're not paying for it, you're the product being sold"

This must apply to Firefox itself, right?

I think a VPN is a great add-on for Firefox and way for Mozilla to monetize itself, but I'm surprised it's free. Perhaps it's a free trial like Proton?

Are you the product for Firefox too?

VPNs are no longer optional for the current internet. This is as controversial as Firefox speaking ftp.

> They advertise it as a free VPN but it's merely a proxy.

What's the difference when you're accessing it through a browser?

> 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.

Are you talking about it not reaching out and affecting other programs, or is there a restriction within the browser?

Mozilla has offered paid VPN plans for over 5 years now. This is just adding a free tier to that.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/products/vpn/

What makes a proxy a "VPN" again? Most popular "VPN" companies only offer a proxy that merely runs over a VPN protocol.

A VPN as you refer to it isn't a VPN either. There's no private network that is virtualized. Actual VPN software is like Tailscale.

Because people understand VPN but not necessarily proxy. It's targeted to non-tech people.

Is the proxy encrypted? If so then you might as well call it a VPN.

Apple doesn't allow alternative browsers in those regions, it just does enough to convince the regulatory body that it allows them and the other browsers just don't want to for some reason.

Wouldnt be suprised if they were working on it already

https://www.pornhub.com/blog/age-verification-in-the-news

Over the past year, Pornhub had to make the difficult decision to block access to users in the following American states due to Age Verification laws:

    Alabama
    Arizona
    Arkansas
    Florida
    Georgia
    Idaho
    Indiana
    Kansas
    Kentucky
    Mississippi
    Missouri
    Montana
    Nebraska
    North Carolina
    North Dakota
    Oklahoma
    South Carolina
    South Dakota
    Tennessee
    Texas
    Utah
    Virginia
    Wyoming

That feels weird to me as well. I get that they need to trial it, but United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom isn't really the countries I'd priorities for a free VPN.

I understand that a number of people in both the US and the UK is struggling right now and may not be able to affort a VPN, but their primary need is to avoid age restriction, while a large number countries are censoring the internet for political reasons. That latter seems more important to address.

A VPN is more relevant than ever in Europe.

I'm not sure what you mean by account handling, but you can long-press the new tab, and you can choose a different profile (for example "work") which has a differently-colored tab. It's pretty great.

This is how I feel about it, like Firefox Send, it ended up being abused, and a free VPN will go thought the same path, as much as I want Firefox to succeed is like they never learn a lesson.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/what-happened-firefox-s...

I’ve suspected that’s where these “ethical” (as they like to call it) residential proxy services get their access from. They’re really dodgy about it other than saying the people agree to it, which ya ok.

VPN is like SSL some time ago (and there were times when a browser would come without SSL, and you'd have to explicitly download it yourself) - it quickly becomes a basic necessity even in civilized societies, let alone say Russia, Iran and the likes.

With Ofcom I'd say the UK falls into that group nicely.