Mozilla-style VPN is finally coming to France. We took the opportunity to talk to Dave Camp, project manager at the Mozilla Foundation.
Mozilla VPN, formerly called Firefox Private Network and until then reserved for a few countries, is now available in France. Initially planned as an extension of the in-house Firefox browser, the project has evolved over the years into a stand-alone application capable of protecting all connections of a computer, tablet or smartphone.
To do this, Mozilla has partnered with a major player in the VPN market: Mullvad. A Swedish company renowned for its privacy policy as confirmed by Dave Camp, Chief Core Products at Mozilla and responsible for the development, among others, of Firefox and VPN. “Mullvad is one of the best VPN providers with an excellent confidentiality policy” , specifies our American interlocutor. Mullvad also has an excellent technical infrastructure and above all the company has long used the WireGuard communication protocol, which is lighter and more efficient than the respectable OpenVPN or IKEv2. For all these aspects, Mozilla seems to have made the right choice.
An easy-to-use VPN
While Mozilla VPN benefits from Mullvad’s technical expertise, the connection software has been developed “from scratch” by Mozilla teams to ensure a user experience that meets the requirements of the Mozilla Foundation. “Over the years, we have the expertise to make the technical aspects of the Internet really simpler,” says Camp Camp. “We want to make these technologies available to as many people as possible, which may seem complex for normal people”, continues the head of Mozilla. Indeed, the software is disconcertingly simple … A little too much perhaps. Indeed, a button allows you to connect the VPN to the Mozilla / Mullvad network to make your connections more confidential. However, the software still seems a little young and ultimately offers few options in the face of competition which has sometimes been refining its offer for more than 10 years. Dave Camp assures us that “the development team is listening to user requests and that early feedback from US customers, in particular, has been taken into account in the current version which is available in Europe. ” Anyway,
Tariffs
Indeed, Mozilla VPN is available for 9.99 € for one month and the prices are decreasing according to the duration of the subscription: 6.99 € for 6 months and 4.99 € for 1 year. Mozilla VPN therefore “sails” in the same waters as Cyberghost VPN or NordVPN, which have extensive experience in the field. Note that you can try Mozilla VPN for 30 days with a money-back guarantee.
The opening of Mozilla VPN in France (and in Germany) is an opportunity to question Dave Camp, in charge of software development at Mozilla.
Dave Camp: I think there are several points that will tip the scales. The first is that this is a software developed and offered by Mozilla, and we have some expertise in security and privacy, and people trust us. When it comes to VPNs, trust is crucial. With WireGuard we have excellent performance and we offer a very easy to use solution.
It is important to us that the VPN can be used outside of Firefox for all your internet connections, but we are also experimenting with solutions to make the use of the VPN much more transparent when using Firefox.
Of course, HTTPS is very important and at Mozilla, we are campaigning for the deployment of HTTPS. However, in some situations, HTTPS is not sufficient. Thus, when you are in a bar or a library and want to connect to the Internet, the person offering the wifi terminal can know which sites you are visiting. And then not all connections are HTTPS yet, I think for example when you play online. Not all games encrypt their connections.
Yes, and I think that in Europe the public is a little more sensitive than elsewhere. You know, at Mozilla, privacy is at the heart of our concerns. I came to Mozilla in 2006, and the first thing they made me work on was a privacy and security feature. But beware, people also want a good Internet experience, they don’t want constraints. They want more respect for their privacy, but not change their habits. We must therefore offer them turnkey and transparent solutions. Firefox is here to give you maximum security without having to do anything extra. The VPN comes with this idea of simplicity and efficiency. That’s why we think WireGuard is a good solution:
Of course, Mozilla VPN is an opportunity for us to diversify our sources of income. I think it is important to be able to provide a quality service without needing funding through advertising, for example. To provide a sustainable and transparent service, you need a source of funding and the sale of subscriptions is a good mechanism for distributing software.