![]() But that isn't the point of this commentary. I still recommend it to privacy-critical users. ![]() But instead, I spent several months methodically investigating the service and its parent company. Many reviewers warned users away from ExpressVPN. Immediately following the DOJ news, a London-based parent company that used to sell ad tech (and is backed by a billionaire previously jailed for insider trading) bought ExpressVPN for $936 million. Since my last review, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden issued a tweet telling users to abandon ExpressVPN because ExpressVPN CIO Daniel Gericke was cooperating with the FBI in an unrelated DOJ investigation. Wade Overturned, Your Abortion Searches Could Be Used to Prosecute You These issues are important because a low-quality VPN review from a popular website could land a trusting reader in jail or worse. Either way, these practices are profitable and make it impossible to fully vet a VPN independently. In the worst cases, these practices can allow a VPN to become a business front for government surveillance (a honeypot). In the best cases, these practices may protect a good VPN from a government takedown. VPN owners often hide their true identities with legal sleight-of-hand in off-shore company shell games. VPN companies serve customers in countries with anti-VPN laws, so sometimes they have servers discreetly placed in those countries. ![]() Second, VPN tech and the VPN industry are both opaque. This muddies the waters for consumers and may potentially conflict with US advertising regulations. Even among editorially independent reviewers, though, properly testing a VPN already means grappling with the complexities of not just encryption tech but the industry's overall resistance to investigation. The letter's concerns about VPNs include the following, some of which are also issues ExpressVPN has publicly dealt with, and all of which are issues affecting how VPNs are reviewed.įirst, ethically dubious VPN companies armed with outsized advertising budgets often fund glowing faux-reviews disguised as unbiased consumer advice. Ron Wyden address what may finally be a tipping point in the fight for VPN transparency - more abortion-seekers are now turning to VPNs for protection while risking imprisonment in pursuit of life-saving health care. Anna Eshoo, of California, and Oregon Sen. Two members of Congress have called on the Federal Trade Commission to tackle a digital threat that privacy watchdogs have been concerned about for years: Virtual private network companies continue to profit from rising surveillance fears by advertising largely unverifiable promises not to log users' online activity.
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