Opera's free Viking VPN (for android phones)

[jetman]

Hi there-

I have been experimenting with Opera's free VPN for mobile phones. It works very well and connects quickly whilst maintaining good speeds. It also offers unlimited use for FREE.

I am interested to know if anyone has any opinions about this service ? I am a bit suspicious when a product is free because it makes me think that they must want to keep or use my data somehow. Otherwise how do they make any money ?

However- the service works well and I suppose it will offer adequate protection if logging in to a public WiFi connection ? I suppose it would also hide my IP address from websites and from my ISP ?

Any thoughts/opinions ?

Thanks.

 

[Arequire]

Opera's VPN is a re-branded version of SurfEasy.

I am interested to know if anyone has any opinions about this service ? I am a bit suspicious when a product is free because it makes me think that they must want to keep or use my data somehow. Otherwise how do they make any money ?

Here's what they claim collect in their privacy policy:

SurfEasy will only collect personal information needed for it to properly conduct its business and only collect it by fair and lawful means. Information collected about you via the Service may include:

• usage data, like web addresses (but not content of the web pages) and IP address locations;

• a randomly generated identifier used by SurfEasy;

• Device type;

• Browser type;

• Operating system type;

• IP address with date and time; and

• Any other information that you may share with SurfEasy through communications with SurfEasy via email, telephone, and/or any letters. There may be certain other information that SurfEasy may collect in connection with the Service for which SurfEasy will seek your consent prior to doing so.

Principle 5 – Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention

SurfEasy is committed to a high standard of confidentiality and privacy. SurfEasy will only use and/or disclose your personal information for the reason(s) it was collected. In general, SurfEasy will not share any of your personal information except for the purpose of fulfilling the Service requested, and may share specific personal information with third party service providers engaged to assist us in providing the Service requested. These service providers are prohibited from using your personal information for any purpose other than to provide this assistance, and they are required to protect all personal information and comply with the general privacy principles described in this Policy. SurfEasy may share, sell, and/or distirbute anonymized aggregated usage data with third parties.

Other than that we may share some of your personal information with third parties as stated in this privacy policy, we will not share any of your personal information without your consent, unless there is a requirement to do so by law. SurfEasy has a Policy in place that governs the retention of your personal information. We will only retain your personal information for as long as it fulfills its intended purpose, or as legally required.

Also keep in mind that Opera Software runs its own mobile ad network called AdColony.

However- the service works well and I suppose it will offer adequate protection if logging in to a public WiFi connection ? I suppose it would also hide my IP address from websites and from my ISP ?

Perfectly fine for protecting yourself on public WiFi. It will hide your IP address from the sites you visit but it may suffer from DNS, WebRTC, IPv4 or IPv6 leakage which can expose your IP address and/or browsing habits from behind your VPN.

 

[jetman]

Thanks- thats a very clear answer.
(not sure how this compares with paid for VPNs ?)

 

[Arequire]

Thanks- thats a very clear answer.
(not sure how this compares with paid for VPNs ?)

I'd opt for a paid-for VPN if you want to use it for the privacy aspect. Most have minimal logging policies (some claim no logging of any kind) and you preferably want to stick to a service based outside one of the Five Eyes countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States).

There's a list of VPNs here that meet a self-set of criteria meant for privacy (some have free trials so I'd suggest checking those out if you wish. I also suggest reading through their refund policy before paying for one):
Privacy Tools | Encryption against global mass surveillance

You can also check out this spreadsheet that details each VPN providers' privacy standing:
That One Privacy Site | Detailed VPN Comparison Chart

If you just want a VPN to protect yourself on public WiFi then I really don't see much worth in paying for one unless you're using public WiFi a lot on a daily basis.