“It’s been nearly two years since the Opera launched a free VPN built into its browser, a VPN that would later come to both Android and iOS devices,” Tom Pritchard reports for Gizmodo UK.
“The key thing about Opera VPN was that it was free, with the company promising it would remain free until the end of time,” Pritchard reports. “Well except that last part isn’t exactly true, because Opera has confirmed the VPN will be shut down on 30th April.”
“The good news is that anyone who did hand over their money for Opera VPN Gold will get a free upgrade to SurfEasy Ultra, a VPN service previously owned by Opera Software that was sold to Symantec (of Norton fame) last year,” Pritchard reports. “It’s also promising that Opera Gold users on iOS will be able to migrate to the new service from the latest version of the Opera VPN app. Android users have no such luck because, well, Opera Gold doesn’t seem to have ever been released on the platform.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: There is no such thing as perpetual free lunches.
We use TunnelBear’s VPN service while using public Wi-Fi. TunnelBear lets users easily and quickly choose from servers located around the world in 20+ countries. TunnelBear offers unlimited data for $4.99/month.
SEE ALSO:
Macworld reviews TunnelBear VPN: Straightforward and easy to use – March 8, 2018
You need a VPN, and here’s why – February 21, 2018
Why Mac users need a VPN service – January 17, 2018
Your DNS settings may be betraying your privacy – October 24, 2017
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
It be nice of Apple to provide free VPN for Safari of both iOS and OSX. If Opera can do it why cannot the richest company on planet Earth?
Rhetorical, I know, but I will give a straight answer:
Because Apple is wisely about profits most of the time and because Cook is Ballmerizing Apple where the focus is always on the maximising bottom line even to the detriment of good will.
Well Apple boasts regularly about its commitment to privacy and security, adding VPN to Safari would give it bragging rights, especially over google.
Opera has never offered a REAL VPN. All they offered was a proxy IP or exit node that wasn’t your ISP’s. That’s not the same thing. It didn’t offer any security beyond simply changing your exit IP. Your real IP address was leaked anyway, via WebRTC, such that anyone could trace you back to home. And considering that Opera is now owned by a company in China who most likely logged all your net transactions… Opera’s FAKE VPN was to be avoided. Good riddance.
Opera browser’s VPN is just a proxy, here’s how it works
Free forever until the company decides the apposite just as a company saying that your personal data is not shared until that company goes bankrupt. The most valuable asset then is people’s personal info which the business would be foolish not to sell to generate that last burst of income before death.
Express VPN works great for me though not the cheapest VPN in the box.
A gang of we local technos have been evaluating the best, safest VPNs on the market. At the moment, Express VPN wins. But Tunnel Bear is still top notch. I’m using ProXPN. All of them hit all the security marks. The remaining factors are cost, which exit nodes they provide around the world, how fast they are and whether they accept anonymous purchases. This last factor is for the particularly paranoid.
The WebRTC security leak:
Many VPN Providers Leak Customer’s IP Address via WebRTC Bug
Prominent loser VPNs of the moment:
• PureVPN
• Zenmate
Both of the above were found to have a series of security leaks which the companies are deliberately ignoring.
The problem with so many is they seriously s-l-o-w d-o-w-n your online speed.
What is your take on VyperVPN?
I have no experience with VyperVPN. The reviews I read herald it as THE VPN to use if you’re stuck in a totalitarian hell hole country (the usual suspects) and want to get out onto the Internet of the real world outside. Their proprietary Chameleon VPN protocol apparently works. But since it’s proprietary, that brings up its own trust problems. Is it secure? How well is it being vetted? Etc.
“with the company promising it would remain free until the end of time”
Promises, promises…are worthless.
watch out for any company offering products or service as “free forever, until the cows come home, etc”