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While the current VPN market appears to be filled with numerous products by various companies, recent research that took a closer look into the market revealed very unexpected results. At least 97 VPN products are owned or operated by only 23 companies, according to privacy and security research firm VPNpro. Moreover, it was further discovered that most of the popular mobile-only VPNs are Chinese (run by Chinese nationals or actually located in China). “This means user data is likely open to Chinese authorities, confirming US Senators’ fears of American data falling into Chinese or Russian hands,” writes VPNpro’s Jan Youngren. The two noteworthy takeaways, as per VPNpro:
— Data privacy: “If the parent companies are actually located in a 5/9/14 Eyes country, which are typically high-surveillance countries, users’ data could be wide open to those governments. If they are in Russia, China, and other authoritarian/repressive governments, they are forced to provide their data to the governments on a default basis.”
— Data security: “If the owning company is untrustworthy, it could bring up many problems. Parent companies that have been shown to have major vulnerabilities, or even include suspicious add-ons and possible malware, could lead to user data being stolen, or even their computers being hacked.”
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