I’m using Proton for the secure email and end-to-end encrypted cloud storage - the additional parts are mostly “extra”. I have the visionary plan, so it’s $480 every 2 years (roughly $20/month). However, for that I also have the ability to use a custom email domain, and have my family members on the plan, so it seems like a reasonable value for the price. I rarely use the VPN directly from my mobile devices, but I am using DNS over VPN with Unbound (from the Firewalla router), so it is actively in use.
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This is both helpful and concerning. I’ve also seen instances where products changed hands, and it wasn’t immediately clear - so that end users could continue using a product without realizing that the privacy policies and corporate governance may have changed. I’m thinking specifically of Bartender, but I know that’s not the only example. I think it was around six months (possibly more) before the change in ownership became widely known. I’m happy that I’m not using Intego. I find it interesting that there’s nothing obvious on their website that references Kape. When I did a search, there is a blog post - but unless you’re specifically looking for it, I doubt you would see it. Really makes you wonder who you can trust, and for how long can you continue to do so?
It is good to stay away from domestic Red China companies as they are all either owned or controlled by the PLA and/or MSS. I haven’t yet found a reason to use a VPN continually so I have delved that deep into them. However, I do use Tor Browser at times, does anyone else and do you use a VPN too? If so which one?
AdBlocking. My iPad has a VPN always on, but it’s not an external VPN, it’s a local one as part of an adblocking app. Works well for me. This option is missing from the polls.
On the mac, adblockers plugins in the browser are enough for me. But on the iPad, this ‘adblocker via VPN’ is the best I could find at the time (I’ve been using it for years and haven’t looked at other adblocking solutions since). Hope this helps!
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I bet a lot of Texans use a VPN now so they can watch porn!
I used to use PIA, it seemed to work well, but it no longer supports all the operating systems I have to use.
Getflix (www.getflix.com), both “smart DNS” to circumvent geoblocking of some streaming efficiently and their regular VPN product.
PersonalVPN
I do not use any VPN specifically because I do not know where it terminates or who is collecting all of that information. I do not have the resources to trace down who really owns the VPN software or servers, so I just take my chances in the open VPN-less world. I also do not really have anything to protect past what normal people would want to protect (bank, medical, purchases, etc.) and those should be reasonably protected with HTTPS (SSL or better.)
I use Aura for security. I turn VPN on the phone when it involves anything financial. It’s always on on my browser.
Hotspot Shield. It’s on all the time on my phone and on my laptop if I’m connected to anything other than my home network or my phone acting as a personal hotspot. Got a lifetime subscription back in 2016, and I’ve been very happy with it. As a bonus, I get free updates of 1Password now.
I used VPN Unlimited for many years (decades?) and have a life-time subscription that really seems to be life-time (so far) but switched to Tailscale last year. I have it on all my devices (iMac G4, iPhone 15 ProMax and iPad) all the time. So far, it seems to work flawlessly.
I especially like VPN’s because they allow me to tunnel back to the U.S. when I’m in a foreign country so I can continue to access everything, including TV, that I could access if I was physically in the U.S.
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I have TailScale installed, although I haven’t yet used its remote capabilities. Otherwise, I have PureVPN also installed that I use very occasionally.
Do you never find yourself at a coffee shop with an unprotected wifi network? Do you just refuse to use open networks like that? That’s about the only time I use a VPN…
I read that one company — Kape Technologies — owns multiple VPN brands, and they sell your data.
ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Zenmate, and VPN review website VPN Mentor
But really I don’t use my VPN enough for that to bother me. I mean, I pay so little for it I just assume they are monetising me in some way.
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I used NordVPN in NE China. Not too successful. Kept losing it or bumped off. Pretty sure that I was checked out by two agents on two different occasions—friendly and non-confrontational, but by the nature of their comments and questions I felt that they were checking me out. I was in a part of China where I never saw westerners, so possibly they could realize that I was using a VPN. On the other hand, I spoke with a gent from Singapore who said that he was using a VPN and had no problems. Still again, now that I think about it, possibly he was another agent. Ha-ha. In any case, whatever it was, it was pretty benign.
I use OpenVPN Connect through my employer, mostly to access the work servers remotely, but I don’t bother to switch off the connexion, so I very likely also use the VPN during non-work access to the internet.
I also use tailscale - to access geofenced services i have paid for from my home computer when travelling.
I use FastestVPN, apparently run out of Turkey, as an occasional alternative to ProtonVPN. I paid for the FastestVPN “Lifetime” membership. It works well when I need it, with good speed and accessibility. It rarely bombs or suffers from server clogs. But ProtonVPN is my standard. I pay for Proton Unlimited. Proton servers will sometimes clog. When bandwidth is at its worst, I’ll switch to manual choice mode and dig for the least busy server, which is a great option. I always have FastestVPN handy as needed.
I have been using NordVPN for about 4 or 5 years. While it gives me peace of mind on my MacBook and iPad, it doesn’t work on my iPhone. Their support team suggested that one of my apps is interfering with it. They want me to delete all apps on my iPhone and begin again. That’s way too much hassle and they want me to do their work for them. The subscription ends shortly and I’m tempted to get DuckDuckGo Privacy Pro VPN instead.