1 in 6 VPNs Track Your Location, According to New Proton Report
Proton finds 64 of 13 million US VPN downloads are Chinese-owned and track user data, including location.
Intelligence analysis by Qwen 2.5 (3B)
Proton's report reveals that 1 in 6 US VPNs track user location data, highlighting potential privacy risks.
A VPN is supposed to keep your internet activity private. But some popular apps that people use to hide their location are actually owned by Chinese companies. These apps collect lots of information about you, like what device you're using and where you are. That's a problem because it could let the government know where you are.
Analysis
{"heading":"The Scope of the Problem","subheading":"Proton's Findings","paragraph_1":"Proton's report, released on June 1, 2023, found that 64 out of the 13 million US VPN downloads in the first half of the year were from Chinese-owned apps. These apps were found to track user location data, including device IDs, network information, and mobile carrier data.","paragraph_2":"The report also revealed that 25% of these apps actively track user location, posing a significant privacy risk. This data was collected from millions of users, with 31 of the Chinese-owned apps using shell companies registered in jurisdictions such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UK to further conceal their identities.","paragraph_3":"Proton's findings highlight the potential for authoritarian governments like China to use this information to track individuals, including public officials, journalists, and protesters. The report emphasizes the importance of transparency and the need for stronger privacy guardrails in the app verification process."}
Key points
- 64 out of 13 million US VPN downloads in the first half of 2023 were from Chinese-owned apps
- 25% of these apps track user location data, including device IDs and mobile carrier data
- Shell companies registered in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UK conceal the true ownership of these apps
By using trustworthy VPNs like Proton and ExpressVPN, users can protect their privacy and avoid apps that track their location.
If users continue to use apps that track their location, they could put themselves at risk of having their privacy violated by authoritarian governments.
