The researcher says he analyzed the top 20 free VPN apps that appear in searches for VPN apps on the Google and Apple mobile app stores, for both the US and UK locales.
He says that 17 of the 30 apps he analyzed (10 apps appeared on both stores) had formal links to China, either being a legally registered Chinese entity or by having Chinese ownership…
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Data exchanged via these VPNs, some of which may be company trade secrets, may end up being logged, and in the worst case scenario logged on Chinese servers, where it may be at the disposal of Chinese authorities, which have a long and well-documented history of hacking, favoring, and helping local businesses at the expense of foreign competitors.
VPNs in China are typically used to get around the Great Firewall. In other countries, VPNs are used to secure a connection when using public WiFi.
The crackdown on VPNs could mean that VPN services in China actively log any and all information traveling through them, or they could simply shut down. In either case, the cyber security and digital privacy of people using that VPN can be compromised.
To protect yourself, always do some research before choosing a VPN service. Personally I have used FrootVPN and even set up my own VPN using FreedomBox on a Raspberry Pi to ensure better security.
