Free Firefox VPN Now Lets You Select Overseas Servers

HOOK: Firefox's free VPN now lets you pick exactly which country your traffic appears to come from — but as with any free privacy tool, the real cost may be your data. LEAD: Mozilla has updated its Firefox VPN (formerly Firefox Private Network) to allow users to select specific overseas servers rather than relying on an automatic connection, the company announced this week. The feature is available on the free tier of the service, which offers 500 MB of data per month without a subscription. CONTEXT: VPNs have become mainstream tools for bypassing geo-restrictions and masking IP addresses, but free variants often monetize user data or limit speed and server choice. Mozilla's VPN, launched in 2020, was originally a paid-only service; a free tier with a data cap was introduced in 2023 to attract users to Mozilla's broader privacy ecosystem. KEY DETAILS: The new server-selection menu lists 30+ countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, including the US, UK, Japan, Germany, Australia, and Brazil. Users on the free tier can switch locations up to five times per month. Mozilla's VPN uses the WireGuard protocol and promises no logging of browsing activity. The service is bundled with Firefox Relay (email masking) and Firefox Monitor (data breach alerts) for paying subscribers. ANALYSIS: Allowing free users to pick servers reduces the service's simplicity but adds control that competitors like ProtonVPN and TunnelBear already offer. Security experts caution that free VPNs — even from reputable organizations — often lack the resources for rigorous audits, and the warning in Mozilla's own documentation about limited server availability underscores the trade-off. OUTLOOK: Mozilla is expected to expand the free-tier data cap and server list in 2025 as part of its push to make Firefox a privacy-first gateway. Users should watch for independent security audits of the VPN infrastructure and clearer disclosure around any data handling.