Mozilla plans to soon launch Firefox Monitor Premium, a paid service to remove personal information from the Internet. Initially, the service will work for users in the United States.
Firefox Monitor Premium is an extension of Firefox Monitor, a free credential leak checking service. Firefox Monitor checks the user’s email address against public databases of known hacks and leaks.
For the first time, the function of deleting personal information was announced at the end of 2021. From that time on, users could be added to a waiting list to be invited to test new features.
Mozilla was already working on Firefox Monitor back then. In April this year, the service received a new design.
Firefox Monitor Premium uses the Onerep API to find and delete data. Onerep is a US-only commercial service. Subscribers can use Onerep to monitor over 190 different data brokers, including multiple search engines, to find records containing personal information.
Onerep allows you to send deletion requests to these brokers. Another key function is monitoring. Users will receive a monthly report that displays data deletion requests, statistics, and additional information.
Firefox Monitor Premium works in a similar way. Service subscribers must add their information in order for it to be crawled by the web resource. Mozilla also reports the number of sites selling stolen data.
The service will let you know if credit card numbers, social security IDs, email addresses or passwords have been exposed.
Mozilla has yet to announce a launch date for the service. According to prototypes posted on Soren Hentzschel’s blog, the service will be offered for $4.99 per month or $50 per year. Prices are subject to change, but are currently lower than the prices shown on the Onerep website.
Users of the free Firefox Monitor service will be able to run one scan of Firefox Monitor Premium to find out about leaks, but will not be able to use the request to automatically delete data.
Firefox Monitor Premium expands the pool of Mozilla’s commercial services. Mozilla VPN was launched in some countries in 2020. Another Firefox Relay service protects email addresses using aliases.
These services help Mozilla to diversify its revenue and reduce its reliance on revenue from deals with search engines. Perhaps in the near future Mozilla 365 subscription will be launched, giving users access to all these services.
There is no information about the paid version of the service on the official website of Firefox Monitor yet. It is not clear if it will be launched in other countries and regions.
