![]() However, the website’s FAQs go some way to reassure us that Catapult Hydra doesn’t affect security: Unfortunately, there’s no technical information about the protocol available. Security researchers also found malware and tracking libraries embedded in the Android app.īetternet uses the same proprietary connection protocol as the other VPN services in the Aura group: Hydra. In terms of advanced features, there is a domain whitelister you can use to route select websites outside of the VPN tunnel, but this doesn’t make up for the lack of basic security tools. The Chrome extension is even worse: we found it suffered from both WebRTC and DNS leaks, regardless of how you configure the settings. The ‘Prevent IP leaks’ feature is switched on by default, but considering the main point of a VPN is to protect your privacy and prevent personal data from being exposed – we don’t see why this option is present at all. Betternet never publicly addressed this.īetternet’s leak test results when “Prevent IP Leaks” is switched on. Betternet Controversyīetternet hasn’t escaped all controversy though.Ī 2016 academic report on VPNs revealed that Betternet’s Android app was riddled with malware and embedded tracking libraries. This means you don’t have to hand them personal information like a phone number or email address. One saving grace is that Betternet Free doesn’t require you to make an account before using it. ![]() These issues have since been resolved and the Aura privacy policy rewritten, but it certainly damaged trust in the company at the time. While the allegations didn’t mention Betternet, it’s worth remembering Betternet uses the same privacy policy, proprietary VPN protocol technology, and infrastructure as Hotspot Shield. You can read more about this in our Hotspot Shield review. One of them involved the VPN injecting advertising cookies in users’ web browsers. It’s also subject to intrusive surveillance laws.Īll of Aura’s VPN products share the same privacy and logging policy, but the group hasn’t had the smoothest run during the past few years.įor example, Hotspot Shield was embroiled in various past controversies. is incorporated in California, USA, which is part of the Five-Eyes international intelligence-sharing alliance. Ownership and jurisdictionīetternet is operated by Betternet LLC Inc., a part of the Aura group, which also owns a host of other VPN services, including:īetternet LLC Inc. “Even if a government agency physically seizes one of our VPN servers and succeeds in breaking disk encryption on those servers, they would not find any logs or information that would reveal what any individual user was browsing, viewing, or doing online via a VPN connection.”īetternet’s logging policy is not the worst we’ve seen from a free VPN service, but there are far more private free VPNs options available. These are aggregated on a monthly basis.Īura, the company behind Betternet, claims that despite the logs it can’t link any browsing activity to individual VPN users.Īura’s logging policy also states that while the free products are supported by ads, they are not personalized based on the user’s VPN browsing activity. Non-personal logs of domain names (not full URLs) that users visit – but not in combination with anything that identifies an individual.These are not linked to VPN browsing activity but allow Betternet to distinguish between different users as registration is not necessary. Device-specific information – device ID, OS version, and hardware model.Bandwidth consumed per user, per session – to monitor, support, and optimize VPN services, and stored for three years.VPN connection timestamps – to monitor, support and optimize VPN services, and stored for three years.Your approximate geographical location and ISP – derived from your IP address and shared with third-party advertisers.Originating IP address – encrypted and monitored only for the duration of the VPN session, then deleted.It also caps data usage at 500MB each day.īetternet logs quite a lot of information about its users: The VPN logs too much web data, it throttles internet speeds, and it’s useless for streaming and torrenting. Betternet VPN underperformed in many categories, to our disappointment. It may have a large user base, but Betternet isn’t a safe, reliable, or private VPN.įor this Betternet VPN review, we tested every key aspect of the VPN service to answer key questions like: We will update this review following our findings. We’re actively monitoring the situation and conducting our own investigation. Iran is highly restrictive of internet freedom, including VPN usage.īetternet have denied these allegations. February 2023 Update: It’s been claimed that Hamid Rezazadeh, the alleged founder of Betternet, is the son of Iran’s Vice President for Women and Family affairs.
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