Mozilla is planning to launch a paid subscription service within its Firefox browser that will give users access to a bunch of exclusive premium features.
In an interview with German magazine t3n this week, Mozilla CEO Chris Beard revealed that the company is planning to release the first of multiple paid subscription services for its Firefox browser later this year.
Related: Firefox’s toughest anti-tracking tools are now the default setting
Beard hinted that the subscription service would include an array of new features including a secure cloud storage solution and an exclusive built-in VPN service.
Last year, Mozilla tested its premium VPN service ProtonVPN on Firefox users willing to splash out $10 a month. The company also partnered with news subscription service Scroll back in February to introduce ad-free browsing to Firefox. It is unclear whether ProtonVPN and Scroll specifically will be offered on the subscription service but they certainly wouldn’t be out of place as premium features on the browser.
Related: Best VPN
In the interview, Beard criticises Google for its approach to privacy despite Google’s search bar making up a significant percentage of the non-profit’s revenue. This isn’t the first time Mozilla has used its competitors’ treatment of user privacy to make a point. When Enhanced Tracking Protection was announced, Mozilla wrote: “It seems that each week a new tech company decides to decree that privacy is a human right”.
Enhanced Tracking Protection is a tool designed to protect its users privacy by blocking sites from storing information in the form of third-party tracking cookies. It was first launched as an optional feature last October but is enabled by default in the Firefox browser as of last week.
Related: Best Web Browser
Despite its criticism of Google and the company’s commitment to privacy, Mozilla continues to receive the majority of its income from search features provided by competitors like Google. Beard explained that the incoming subscription service is launching in an effort to source more revenue for Firefox outside of deals with its rivals.
Mozilla has no plans to charge for features already available for free in Firefox, such as the Enhanced Tracking Protection feature. The company plans to launch its first subscription service in October.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.