VPN Transparency Report Shows USA has an Online Privacy Problem

A recent transparency report from a VPN has shown just how often the USA wants to invade the privacy of online users. The USA loves to send subpoenas at a rate unparalleled by any other country. Let’s look deeper at this VPN transparency report to see how a truly private VPN can protect your online privacy.

Hotspot Shield VPN transparency report

The transparency report comes from Hotspot Shield, a US-based VPN provider. The vast majority of its users are based outside the USA though. Despite this fact, in the transparency report, the company had received 81 formal requests for users’ information… 63 came from the USA.

Most of these come in the form of a subpoena. With it, governments will request:

Biographical details
Names
Phone numbers
Email addresses
How long users have used the VPN service

The provider also received search warrants for its servers, along with one court order.

As you can see, getting complete online privacy inside countries with authoritarian government is not only essential—it could be a life-and-death situation.

What this VPN transparency report teaches about online privacy

If you truly want to experience online privacy, you must use a VPN provider which does not log user’s data. My top recommendations are:

Click on the three links above, and you will find a VPN which will not log any of your personal data. When governments make requests for information, these VPN providers cannot provide the information simply because they have none to provide.

Different VPN providers are for different intents:

Some people want a VPN to unblock geo-blocked contents.
Other people, especially those in the USA, want to prevent their ISP from gathering data on them and selling such data.
Ex-pats want to be able to connect to a server back home.
Video gamers want to be able to be protected from DDoS attacks.
People who torrent want to be protected from DMCA notices.

Choose a VPN with a “no logging” policy

For those that want true online privacy, this VPN transparency report shows that you need to choose a VPN with a no-logging policy. Governments are increasingly putting pressure on VPN providers, and you need to choose them wisely. Don’t be like those who used HideMyAss who didn’t read the policy on logging. You could do better than them.

@ticticboom Our logging policy is transparent and can be read here: http://t.co/X1hLr99OsC You can have a read if you like 🙂

— HMA VPN (@hidemyass) August 18, 2015

Choose from one of the three that I listed above. Or go through our full list of reviews and determine for yourself the one which is best for you.