If u use their vpn, u get a new IP which rotates itself. That is fine. The problem is, that when it rotates, it only changes the digits after the last dot.
Example:
If u get a new ip, lets say 153.93.12.204 and it gets rotated, your new ip will be 153.93.12.xxx. The location stays the same, which can be used to track.
If u change country the dots behind the last dots will also be changed: 153.93.xxx.xxx.
Now to my question:
Am I fine using firefox integrated VPN to prevent ip tracking? I use arkenfox.
This likely means Mozilla has a “block” of IP addresses (a concept common enough to have its own notation, so using your one-country example, 153.93.12.0/24 means the last group can change, from 0-255. And for different countries, 153.93.0.0/16, with the first example being a subset of this one). If the first 3 groups are always the same per country, this means that Mozilla has at most 255 IP addresses to share between definitely more than 255 users currently connected to a country, meaning there are many users using the same IP.
Barring other forms of tracking, this means you have a chance at blending in with a cohort of users over a long enough period of time, since for every IP you switch to, someone has likely used it before you, and someone different will likely use it after you, unlike your home IP address which is only tied to your household and could stay the same for a long time.
So it’s not really about the numbers in the IP, more that enough users sharing a small set of IPs is enough to thwart naive IP → User correlation. The numbers in the IP could inform a service “this user is using Firefox VPN”, but not necessarily “this is the same user because their IP is similar to their last one”.
Those IPv4 addresses are already shared among multiple users at the same time. IPv4 addresses are a precious commodity nowadays, so they tend to be shared extensively. The end services already see and expect this.
Some VPN services may also share IPv6 addresses among multiple users.
So, if the objective is to blend your traffic in with others, sharing is good. Connecting to a larger metro area is good, if it’s reliable. Otherwise, use even larger pools: country, continent, or world; or use Tor.
Yes, WARP tunnels traffic from the entire device. The free Firefox VPN only tunnels the web browser’s traffic (a paid plan for entire devices is available). Consumer WARP (free) keeps traffic logs for 25 hours; Firefox VPN (Mullvad, with 50 GB free) doesn’t. I suppose you have to pick your poison (and threat model).