The Norwegian browser company launched on Tuesday a free VPN app for Android, available on Google Play.
Unlike with most free VPN apps, traffic is unlimited.
The app allows you to connect to five locations: The USA, The Netherlands, Canada, Germany, and Singapore.
You will also find a feature to block ad trackers called Guardian, and a WiFi security test tool. The test tool checks if the WiFi network you are using is encrypted, public or private, and whether someone can monitor your connection or not.
However, if you install the app, you'll notice right away the presence of targeted ads. Thankfully, they are limited to the interface of the app itself, and not injected in the websites you visit.
Another aspect that shows this is indeed a free service - as opposed to a premium paid one - is the fact that Surfeasy, now a division of Opera, intends to sell anonymized data collected from Opera VPN users to third-parties, as shown by Computerworld.
Chris Houston, President of Surfeasy, said:
"To help cover the cost of providing the service Opera VPN displays advertising and collects anonymous information. It’s important to understand that this is not data about what you do with your phone, but rather this is data about how a large group of people use their phones. It’s very much like taking part in a survey – there is very little value in your personal answers since your answers may not be representative of the larger population. This data is completely anonymized."
Of course, if you don't want your data to be part of this survey, you can choose a paid VPN, which business model is not based on data mining and data reselling. Surfeasy's own paid service does not keep any log.
Developing
Source: Opera
