
Almost a Third of World's Top VPNs Are Secretly Owned by Chinese Firms - dtamhk
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252466203/Top-VPNs-secretly-owned-by-Chinese-firms
======
dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20367422](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20367422)

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ignoramous
Conversely, Lantern [0], one of the most popular VPNs in China is funded by
the CIA. Their privacy policy makes for a very eerie read [1].

Snippets:

> Personalize and improve the Services, including to provide or recommend
> features, content, social connections, referrals, and advertisements.

> (We may share information...) With vendors, consultants, marketing partners,
> and other service providers who need access to such information to carry out
> work on our behalf

> When you use our Services, we collect information sent to us by your
> computer, mobile phone or other access device. The information sent to us
> includes, but is not limited to, the following: data about the pages you
> access, computer IP address, device ID or unique identifier, device type,
> geo-location information, computer and connection information, mobile
> network information, statistics on page views, traffic to and from the
> sites, referral URL, ad data, and standard web log data and other
> information. We also collect information through our use of cookies and web
> beacons.

> Device Information: We may collect information about your mobile device,
> including, for example, the hardware model, operating system and version,
> software and file names and versions, preferred language, unique device
> identifier, advertising identifiers, serial number, device motion
> information, and mobile network information.

> Log Information: When you interact with the Services, we collect server
> logs, which may include information like device IP address, access dates and
> times, app features or pages viewed, app crashes and other system activity,
> type of browser, and the third-party site or service you were using before
> interacting with our Services.

> We may transfer the information described in this Statement to, and process
> and store it in, the United States and other countries, some of which may
> have less protective data protection laws than the region in which you
> reside

[0]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10126667](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10126667)

[1]
[https://s3.amazonaws.com/lantern/LanternPrivacyPolicy.pdf](https://s3.amazonaws.com/lantern/LanternPrivacyPolicy.pdf)

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C4K3
The original article has a lot more details including lists of companies and
how they figured this out.

[https://vpnpro.com/blog/hidden-vpn-owners-
unveiled-97-vpns-2...](https://vpnpro.com/blog/hidden-vpn-owners-
unveiled-97-vpns-23-companies/)

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Cd00d
I occasionally think about subscribing to a vpn to protect my behavior
information from my isp (Spectrum). But, everytime I get to considering it, I
get sketched out that the low cost vpn providers will sell my data just as
indiscriminately as my ISP.

This article suggests trust is hard to come by. Who can recommend a quality
and secure vpn?

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peisistratos
What does "secretly owned" mean?

The #2 company on the Fortune 500 is Exxon-Mobil. Who owns it? There are some
limited disclosures in various places, but this is the same as Chinese firms.
Exxon-Mobil is "secretly owned". What hypocrisy these western magazines have.
Computer Weekly, owned by Reed Elsevier RELX makes a small fortune privatizing
publication of publicly funded research. Who is behind that? Who knows? It is
as much "secretly owned" as any Chinese company.

~~~
TylerE
Huh, no it's not?

[https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/xom/ownership-
summary](https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/xom/ownership-summary)

[https://www.marketscreener.com/EXXON-MOBIL-
CORPORATION-4822/...](https://www.marketscreener.com/EXXON-MOBIL-
CORPORATION-4822/company/)

~~~
peisistratos
As I said, there are limited disclosures, just like the Chinese. In this case
meaningless - I ask who owns this and you say "Blackrock" and "Northern Trust"
as if you've answered the question. "Northern Trust" is not a who, it is just
another layer of "secret ownership" to use the magazine's phraseology. I still
have no idea who owns Exxon-Mobil - it is a secret, to use their phrase.

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sys_64738
I've used TunnelBear for many years but just found out they sold out to
McAfee. Why do they sell their souls to parasites such as McAfee?

~~~
mandeepj
Easy exit for $$$$ _

~~~
geofft
Perhaps "Never use a VPN that is a startup" is s good rule of thumb.

(I might extend it to "for-profit," but if it's a for-profit company that has
a clear revenue source other than the VPN, it might be fine.)

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PalmCentro
Can we have a list?

That article is garbage.

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jandrese
Is this surprising? Chinese people need VPNs more than anybody.

