Hotspot Shield is one of the most used VPN providers on the market, and claim to have as many as 500,000,000 users. Recently they have received lots of attention, in a very negative way.
Hotspot Shield has a free and a pro version of their product. They claim to fight for Internet privacy, and they, of course, deny any illegal activity. But, what are the accusations against Hotspot Shield about?
The allegations against Hotspot Shield
The main charge against Hotspot Shield is that they share sensitive user data with third party companies. This sort of information is gathered through for example javascript that is added, and thus they can track you, and give that information on to others. It is also said that Hotspot Shield doesn’t fully protect you as mobile carrier data isn’t transmitted through the secure connection.
The complaint has been made by CDT (Center of Democracy and Technology), and a total of 13 pages with information was sent on to the U.S Federal Trade Commission. What will happen in this matter is still uncertain, but we will follow the case as closely and carefully as we can.
What to do now? Want to change VPN provider?
Are you a Hotspot Shield customer who would like to change to some other VPN provider? You can read more about lots of different VPN providers right here. The VPN provider IPVanish has created a discount coupon available for Hotspot Shield customers (and others who have heard about it). If you visit the IPVanish website (click the button beneath), and during the payment process, add the discount code HOTSEAT, you will be entitled to a 25% discount. The discount is only available until August 14th.
Are the charges against Hotspot Shield true?
We do not know, but it isn’t hard to believe that a company with so many customers (and many of them free clients), might take advantage of all the data they can gather and then pass it on. Nothing is however sure, so keep on coming back for more information on this matter.
