Prime Highlights

• Security specialists advise that some free VPN apps quietly channel user information via Chinese-controlled servers.
• The applications are threatening national security and privacy, with demands for their removal immediately.

Key Facts

• Top VPNs such as xVPN, Turbo VPN, VPN Proxy Master, Speedy Quark, and WireVPN are among the flagged.
• These applications, though termed “free,” tend to promote in-app purchases and have connections to secretive Chinese-owned entities.
• Experts highlight that such VPNs can record user activity and pass it on to foreign governments, particularly Chinese authorities.

Key Background

Free VPN applications are generally advertised as privacy-offering software, particularly to users interested in safeguarding their information while using public Wi-Fi or evading geo-blocking of content. In a worrying trend, however, several of these free VPNs have been found to actually undermine the privacy they are supposed to provide.

A recent study finds that several highly ranked, free VPN applications available on both the Android and iOS platforms have undisclosed connections to Chinese firms, with some of the traffic data directed through servers owned by the Chinese. While claiming to be secure and private, these apps tend to hide information regarding their ownership and infrastructure backend. The results indicate that numerous of these apps, such as popular ones like X‑VPN, Turbo VPN, VPN Proxy Master, Speedy Quark VPN, WireVPN, Super VPN, and HulaVPN, have connections with Chinese companies or work via shell companies with fake origins.

The issue is not hypothetical. In China, businesses are required by law to adhere to government requests for data, in many cases without notifying or asking their users. This implies that any information traveling through these services might be made accessible to Chinese authorities. For the user, this is a huge risk—particularly when VPNs have access to nearly all internet traffic on a device.

What’s worse, though, is that while all these red flags were waving, app stores such as Apple’s App Store and Google Play have still allowed these apps to be hosted. This erodes the trust of users in app review processes and puts millions at risk unnecessarily.

Experts are calling on users to proactively act. The old adage “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product” applies particularly well in this case. Users should make use of paid, legitimate VPN services that openly share their privacy policy and data practices. The easy rule of thumb is: never believe a free VPN that does not have clear ownership, or one that does not have a clear, credible privacy policy. The risks to your data and privacy are just too great.

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