Privacy Blog

"Friends don’t let friends get spied on.' – Richard Stallman, President of the Free Software Foundation and longtime advocate of privacy in technology.

VPN (Virtual Private Networking)

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If You Are Using Hotspot VPN, Free VPN Master, Secure VPN, or Security Master by Cheetah Mobile on Your Android Device, Uninstall Them Now!

VPNs are supposed to protect you from snoops and unwanted advertising. However, four VPNs do the exact opposite: these four not only serve their own ads while running the background, but ads are also placed outside the apps, including on the home screen. The producing companies make money if you click on one of these ads. The four VPN apps have been downloaded more than 500 million times! You can […]

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What is a VPN and Why do I Need One?

VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) are used to protect your privacy, unblock streaming locks, and hide from hackers and government spies alike. You can find an excellent article about why you want to use a VPN by Carrie Marshall in the T3.COM web site at: https://www.t3.com/features/what-is-a-vpn-and-why-do-i-need-one. The article seems to be an advertisement for ExpressVPN, a commercial VPN service. However, almost all the information provided in the article applies to all […]

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Spying Risk From Foreign VPNs Is Real

“While there are advantages to the use of VPN applications, they are not without risk,” DHS Cybersecurity Director Christopher Krebs told US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) in a letter made public on Tuesday. VPNs, or virtual private networks, encrypt your internet connection and route traffic through a server controlled by the VPN provider. This can make the applications appealing to consumers worried about their privacy or who want to visit […]

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Opera 60 Reborn 3 promises to be Web3-ready with a Crypto Wallet and a Revamped VPN

Opera Software has released Opera 60.0, a major new version of its web browser dubbed Reborn 3. The ‘3’ is a partial reference to the browser’s support for Web3, the so-called decentralized “block-chain based internet of the future”. The new browser’s support for Web3 comes with a new Crypto Wallet to facilitate secure online identification and transactions. The browser’s free VPN service has also been overhauled along with a design […]

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Cloudflare’s Free VPN called Warp will Reportedly Be One of the Few Free VPNs You Can Trust

Cloudfare’s 1.1.1.1 DNS service will add a VPN to its app for mobile devices. See http://bit.ly/2OOr4Bz for the details. The company is adding a new security service that looks to provide consumers with improved privacy and security for Internet access: a VPN to be called Warp that will offer even more privacy while browsing the internet on their phone. Best of all, Warp will be offered in two versions: FREE version […]

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List of Countries that have Officially Banned the use of VPNs

Here is a list of all the backwards countries that have passed laws that attempt to eliminate the online privacy of its citizens and residents: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/list-of-countries-that-have-officially-banned-the-use-of-vpn I suspect that banning VPNs only increases the use of VPNs in each of these countries simply because of all the publicity generated. When anyone is told they cannot use something, the natural reaction is, “Why not? Would it be useful?”

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Cloudflare’s New VPN Service Reportedly Won’t Slow You Down

Cloudflare has announced that it’s adding a VPN service to its 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver app. The 1.1.1.1 service, which first came to mobile back in November, currently attempts to speed up mobile data speeds by using Cloudflare’s network to resolve DNS queries faster than your existing mobile network. From a report: “We wanted to build a VPN service that my dad would install on his phone,” says Cloudflare CEO Matthew […]

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Opera Adds Free and Unlimited VPN Service To Its Android Browser

As users become more cautious about their privacy, many have explored using VPN services. According to a GlobalWebIndex estimate, more than 650 million people worldwide use such tools to mask their identity online and fend off web trackers. Opera 51 for Android now enables users to establish a private connection between their mobile device and a remote VPN server using 256-bit encryption. Users can pick a server of their choice […]

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Check if Your Android VPN is Collecting Personal Data

It’s bad enough when various web sites collect your personal data and then resell it. However, it is despicable when apps do the same thing and probably doubly despicable when an app that reportedly secures your privacy instead violates it without telling you what it is doing. The folks at The Best VPN performed an audit into the permissions asked by 81 Android VPN apps available in the Google Play […]

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New TLS Encryption-Busting Attack also Impacts the newer TLS 1.3

If you use encryption (and I certainly hope you do!), you should be aware that a team of academics has revealed a new cryptographic attack this week that can break encrypted TLS traffic, allowing attackers to intercept and steal data previously considered safe and secure. This includes the encryption used by many, but not all, VPNs. This new downgrade attack works even against the latest version of the TLS protocol, […]

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