“Following the March 28 U.S. Congress vote to repeal restrictions preventing Internet Service Providers from selling personal browsing data and information, interest in VPN’s greatly increased,” Chris Hauk writes for MacTrast. “Browser maker Opera claims interest in their Mac browser, which includes a built-in, free VPN, more than doubled in just a few days.”
“Since the VPN is included in the Opera browser, it is quite easy to enable it, allowing users to protect their online privacy and data,” Hauk writes. “You can also choose to have the Opera browser automatically select the optimal server for your location, based on factors such as network speed, latency, location, and server capacity.”
“It should be noted that only your browsing through the Opera browser is protected by the VPN connection,” Hauk writes. “Your other Internet usage, such as emails and other online tasks are still business as usual.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: For total protection, beyond the browser, we use and recommend TunnelBear’s VPN service (especially while using public Wi-Fi) which lets you choose from servers located around the world in 20+ countries. TunnelBear offers unlimited data for less than $4.17/month. Importantly, TunnelBear explicitly states, “No logging. TunnelBear does NOT log any activity of users connected to our service. Period.”
SEE ALSO:
Apple should offer their own VPN service to iOS and Mac users for security and privacy – April 5, 2017
Protecting against possible ISP snooping by using a VPN and https – April 3, 2017
Privacy 101: Why you need a VPN – March 31, 2017
Why Congress’s rejection of proposed FCC data rules will not affect your privacy in the slightest – March 31, 2017
Congress to US citizens: Online privacy isn’t dead, those who want it will just have to pay for it – March 30, 2017
U.S. Congress sends repeal of FCC broadband privacy rules to President Trump for signature – March 29, 2017
Congress votes to repeal FCC Internet privacy rules – March 28, 2017
U.S. Senate votes to overturn Internet privacy rules – March 23, 2017
Opera is now owned by the Chinese. I’d use with caution. Or rather, I would not use it.
If you want to use a VPN check if they keep logs. Also, does their software have a kill switch, and do they accept payments in gift cards (Starbucks, Wal-Mart, etc)? Why would you want to give your name and address to anyone when paying by credit card? If you have bitcoins, use that too.
Yes, opera’s ownership changed hands last year. its vpn feature is actually proxy instead of a real vpn like ivacy and pure. but the said feauture of opera is pretty decent to use, at least as your need is only to unblock something. also, yes, bitcoin payment option is a great help like lee said