# Privacy | Protect Your Payments

> Privacy's Firefox add-on allows you to generate a new virtual card number with 1-click on any checkout page. Keep your payment info safe from data breaches, shady merchants, and sneaky subscription billing.

Canonical page: [https://chrome-stats.com/d/pay-by-privacy](https://chrome-stats.com/d/pay-by-privacy)

## Overview

- **ID:** `pay-by-privacy`
- **Platform:** Firefox
- **Type:** Firefox add-on
- **Status:** Available
- **Publisher:** Privacy
- **Category:** privacy-security,shopping
- **Daily users:** 6,750
- **Weekly downloads:** 59
- **Rating:** 3.65 / 5 (86 ratings)
- **Version:** 2.4.17
- **Last updated:** 2026-05-26
- **First published:** 2017-06-01
- **Size:** 2.50 MB
- **Data as of:** 2026-09-08
- **Store listing:** [Firefox Add-ons Store](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/pay-by-privacy/)
- **Website:** [https://privacy.com](https://privacy.com/)
- **Privacy policy:** [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/pay-by-privacy/privacy/](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/pay-by-privacy/privacy/)

## Description

Privacy is a powerful Chrome extension designed to safeguard your online payments and personal financial information. With over 200,000 users, Privacy enables you to generate unique virtual card numbers instantly on any checkout page. This feature masks your actual bank or card details, protecting you from data breaches, fraudulent merchants, and sneaky subscriptions.

Key features include merchant-locked and one-time use cards to prevent unauthorized transactions, the ability to pause or close cards for subscription control, and customizable spending limits for enhanced security. Privacy streamlines checkout by autofilling secure card info in one click, so you never have to manually enter or remember multiple card numbers. With continuous improvements backed by user data (collected with consent), Privacy ensures a seamless and secure shopping experience to save you money and protect your financial privacy.

## Rankings

- #979 — Overall
- #35 — Shopping
- #210 — Privacy & Security
- #1 — payments
- #7 — protect
- #12 — privacy

## Permissions and access

### Permissions

- `storage`
- `tabs`
- `activeTab`
- `cookies`

### Host permissions

- `https://*.privacy.com/*`
- `*://localhost/*`

### Content script matches

- `<all_urls>`

## Safety

- **Risk impact:** High risk impact
- **Risk likelihood:** Moderate risk likelihood

### Analysis details

- Grants access to browser tabs, which can be used to track user browsing habits and history, presenting a privacy concern.
- This extension has low user count. Unpopular extensions may not be stable or safe.

> Some risk analysis details are omitted from this free response. [Upgrade to view the full analysis](https://chrome-stats.com/pricing).

## Review summary

Users consistently praise the extension for protecting real card details with virtual cards, easy cross-device autofill, and blocking/resolving unwanted charges. Recurrent complaints focus on new or broad permissions that collect device/browsing data, UX problems on some sites (and recent regressions), intrusive startup behavior, and limited customer support.

### Pros

- Creates and autofills virtual cards so you don't expose your real card number
- Convenient and easy to use on desktop and mobile (including iOS), speeding checkout
- Helps block unwanted charges and resolve disputed merchant charges
- Features like monthly spend limits and a reasonable free tier were praised

### Cons

- Requires broad permissions and appears to collect device/browsing data (anti-fraud), raising privacy concerns
- Recent UX regressions and site-specific autofill issues (some forms inaccessible)
- Some users report intrusive behavior (opens a tab on browser start) and poor customer support/website reliability

## Similar extensions and apps

- [Privacy.com for Firefox](https://chrome-stats.com/d/pay-by-privacy-com) — 10,098 users, 4.04 / 5
- [ChargeGuardian](https://chrome-stats.com/d/chargeguardian) — 1 users, 5.00 / 5
- [Privacy Protector Plus](https://chrome-stats.com/d/privacy-plus) — 91 users, 2.88 / 5
- [Privacy Protector Plus](https://chrome-stats.com/d/privacy-protector-plus)
- [Eno® from Capital One®](https://chrome-stats.com/d/capital-one-eno) — 18,404 users, 3.05 / 5
- [OneTouch Protect](https://chrome-stats.com/d/onetouch-protect)
- [Privacy Expert Password Manager](https://chrome-stats.com/d/privacyexpert-password-manager) — 1 users
- [Privacy Guardian Plus](https://chrome-stats.com/d/privacy-guardian-plus) — 1 users
- [Defendia Extension](https://chrome-stats.com/d/defendia-extension)
- [Maskerade - Blur your login details](https://chrome-stats.com/d/maskerade) — 2 users
- [PrivacyPirate - Block Trackers & Fingerprinting](https://chrome-stats.com/d/privacypirate) — 1 users
- [Pocket Geek Privacy](https://chrome-stats.com/d/pocket-geek-id) — 23 users, 5.00 / 5

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Source: [Chrome-Stats](https://chrome-stats.com/d/pay-by-privacy)