The Private Internet Access (PIA) Firefox extension protects your browsing traffic by routing it through a secure proxy.
In this guide, we explain how to install the extension and what each of its features does.
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Extension Setup
To install the PIA Firefox extension and connect to a proxy server:
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Visit the page for the PIA Firefox Add-on and select Add to Firefox.
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A pop-up box will appear in the upper-right corner of your browser. Click Add. Optionally, you can check the box to allow PIA to run in Firefox’s private browsing mode.
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Another pop-up box will appear. Click OK. Optionally, you can check the box to pin the PIA extension to the Firefox toolbar so it’s easier to access.
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Open the PIA extension and log into your PIA account.
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Next, you’ll be asked to configure a few initial settings, such as the extension’s theme and any extra features you would like to enable. Learn more about these extra features below. You can also skip these steps and adjust the settings later.
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Select a region by clicking Current Region.
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Click the power button to connect to a proxy server.
Extra Features
To access the extension’s extra features:
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Click on the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner of the extension.
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Select Extra Features.
The Extra Features menu contains the following settings.
Security
The Security section contains these settings:
- Block WebRTC IP Detection: WebRTC is a browser feature used for real-time communication that can expose your public and private IP addresses. Enabling this setting helps prevent that from happening.
- Browse websites using HTTPS: HTTPS encrypts your connection to websites, helping protect the data you send and receive. Enable this setting to upgrade website connections from HTTP to HTTPS when available automatically.
Privacy
The Privacy section contains these settings:
- Disable network prediction: Firefox speeds up browsing by preparing pages and looking up website addresses before you visit them, which can involve sending requests to sites you haven’t opened. Enabling this setting disables these prediction services to reduce unnecessary data sharing.
Tracking
The Tracking section contains these settings:
- Tracking Protection: Blocks requests made to domains known to engage in cross-site tracking, helping prevent trackers from following you across different websites.
- Fingerprint protection: Browser fingerprinting is a technique websites use to identify you based on your device and browser settings. Enabling this setting helps protect your privacy by limiting the information your browser shares and restricting access to certain browser features that can be used for tracking.
- Disable website referrer: Prevents your browser from sending the address of the page you came from when you click a link.
- Disable hyperlink auditing: Blocks a web feature that can notify tracking and analytics services when you click a link, helping reduce click-based tracking.
- Remove UTM parameters: Removes tracking parameters added to links to identify how users arrive at a website.
- Remove FBCLID parameters: Removes tracking parameters added to links opened from Facebook.
- PIA MACE: Protects your privacy and security by blocking malicious content, trackers, and advertisements.
Extension Settings
To access more extension settings, click on the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner of the extension and select Extension Settings.
Extension
The Extension Settings menu contains the following settings:
- Always active settings: Keeps your settings active, even when you aren’t connected to a proxy server.
- Dark Theme: Changes how the user interface looks.
- Debug mode: Writes messages to a debug log to help diagnose issues.
- UI Language: Sets the language used by the extension.
Bypass List
This feature lets you add a website to a bypass list to exclude its traffic from the proxy connection. This can be useful for sites that don’t function properly when using a proxy.
Be aware that traffic to and from websites on the bypass list are no longer protected by PIA.
To add a website to the bypass list, type the address into the text box under Other websites and then click the + button.
If the website you want to add is Netflix or Hulu, you can simply tick the respective box under Popular websites instead.
The Export button allows you to save your bypass list as a file. This is useful if you want to back up your settings or transfer them to another device. Click Import to load a bypass list.
Smart Location
This feature lets you choose a specific proxy server to use for a website, regardless of your primary connection.
For example, if you’re connected to a server in Chicago but open a website assigned to Las Vegas, that tab will switch to the Las Vegas server. All other tabs will remain connected to Chicago.