Welcome back to this week's edition of Tuesday Newsday™. Indulge in a tempting array of beer-battered news morsels as we go over significant events in the world that you might have missed.

• New cars are really bad for privacy. Every major manufacturer that was tested by Mozilla had privacy and security flaws. Every...single...one

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, car manufacturers are also in on the data brokerage game. Sensitive data that is being collected by these car companies include race, facial expression, weight, where you drive, and in some more extreme cases, sexual activity and immigration status.

• The FBI has collected 21 million DNA profiles, equivalent to 7% of the population of the United States.

Armed with over $50 million a year to continually amass DNA samples, the FBI shows no signs of slowing down. There are serious civil liberties concerns, especially from the ACLU, about the concept of an ever-expanding DNA database that covers the entire country.

Because you can be identified by DNA expelled simply from breathing normally (yes, that is actually something they're capable of figuring out), law enforcement is extracting what they like to call "Environmental DNA." By that logic, having breathed the same air as an offender could potentially get you mixed up in something much more severe.

But it's okay! Surely, the government & law enforcement will work together to make a rational and logical decision that benefits us all as citizens... syke.

• The BLASTPASS Exploit Chain can compromise your iPhone (on the latest versions of iOS) without any interaction from you.

The exploit chain enables hackers to deploy Pegasus spyware from everybody's favorite super secret Israeli cyber intelligence firm, NSO Group. Apple has already issued a fix, so iPhone users should update their devices immediately. Those who may be at additional risk of targeted attacks due to their identity or profession should use Lockdown Mode.

This week provided us with more juicy morsels of tasty news. The key takeaways:

• Your Tesla is definitely listening to you
• The US government wants a sample of your semen
• You should probably update your iPhone right now

In true 2023 form, that's another round of sentences you'd expect to read in Brave New World (if a Gen-Z'er wrote it). We'll see you again next week for more scrumptious news nibbles. In the meantime, I'll be in the word kitchen cooking up a storm.

And remember, while online, you are an infinite source of data that companies want to perpetually leech off. Keep that Windscribe connection activated to live a leech-free digital life. If you don't have Windscribe already, it's never too late to join our tribe: Sign up today!

Boy, that blog title is a mouthful; hopefully, you haven't already fallen asleep while reading it. But, here in Canada, some major changes are afoot that impact the dissemination of news to Canadians online.

We call ourselves “The True North Strong and Free” but when it comes to sharing news links in Canada on Instagram, Facebook, and Google, the “free” part has caused some issues.

Major Boooooo: Canada’s New Online News Act is a Bummer

This year, the Canadian Government introduced the Online News Act (Bill C-18), a new legislation that requires major online platforms to compensate news outlets when users share links to their content. However, platforms like Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) have chosen to block news content for Canadians rather than comply with the compensation requirement.

This decision is a result of the bill's design, which provides platforms an easy way out by banning news sharing. This ban will lead to a loss of revenue for news organizations and reduced organic traffic, particularly impacting small and independent journalism groups.

While the Online News Act was introduced as a solution to the challenges faced by the news industry, its implementation is enticing platforms to block Canadian news sharing, hampering access to content on platforms like Meta.

The bill's broad classification of news organizations also raises concerns about misinformation, as even inaccurate sources could become classified content. Additionally, linking news revenue to viral social media shares may incentivize clickbait content over substantial journalism. The secret terms of the mandated deals between platforms and news organizations pose further issues, potentially compromising critical reporting.

To continue accessing news, individuals are encouraged to explore alternate platforms, use VPNs to maintain access to Canadian news (more on that later), visit news websites directly, and rely on international news coverage.

Check out OpenMedia’s detailed overview here for a solid breakdown of the Online News Act and the issues it poses to free and open media access in Canada. You can also check out Google’s statement here and Meta’s statement here.

TLDR: The Canadian Government wants companies like Google and Meta to pay news outlets for their content. Google and Meta have refused. The new law will come into effect at the end of 2023, and that’s when Google plans to start blocking Canadian news links across their products and platforms. Meta has taken a more retaliatory stance and has already started blocking news links and content on their platforms, Facebook and Instagram.

How to Bypass News Blocks on Instagram

If you live in Canada and are an active Instagram user, you have likely already noticed some major news sources, like CBC, CTV, and the New York Times disappearing from your feed.  If you click through to the actual Instagram account, you will be hit with “People in Canada can’t see this content” :( :( :(

Major frown face.

But fear not! At the time of publishing this post, it’s pretty darn easy to bypass the Instagram block. All you need is a VPN - and boy, do I have a recommendation for you!

With Windscribe, you can simply connect to a non-Canadian location, and boom, access granted! Take a look!

(Note: You may need to relaunch Instagram once connecting to Windscribe to access blocked content)  

Windscribe is available for Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, and even Linux - we also have a browser extension. Simply install your preferred app, connect to a non-Canadian location, and ACCESS GRANTED! If you are looking for step-by-step instructions on how to set up the Windscribe app on your specific device, take a look here:

How to Install on Your Browser

How to Install on Your Desktop

How to Install on Your Mobile Device

How to Bypass News Blocks on Facebook

Full disclosure: I spent 2 years working in Windscribe Support Land and I loved every second of it. Give me a problem, yo, I’ll solve it… the tougher, the better. I WOULD NOT REST UNTIL THE TROUBLE HAD BEEN TROUBLESHOOTED AND KILLED DEAD (or I had escalated the issue to someone smarter than me).

But I’m here to tell you that I’m stumped by Facebook right now. I have come at this from every angle I can think of and Facebook still knows I am in Canada. Is it because I’m currently in 50-100 local “Buy and Sell” groups? Is it because I checked into my dentist 4 years ago to get a $15 Starbucks gift card?

In addition to connecting to a US location in Windscribe on mobile, desktop, AND the extension, I have so far tried the following to get Facebook to update my Primary Location:

• Changed my current location in my Facebook profile to a US city
• Deleted all past Facebook sessions logged from a Canadian IP
• Updated my Facebook Marketplace location/radius to a US city
• Cleared mobile app cache/data, switched to airplane mode, and re-installed the Facebook app
• Ensured location services were completely disabled on browser and mobile
• Tried turning ON location services with GPS spoofing enabled in the Windscribe Android app
• Prayed, hoped, wished upon a star

But Facebook knows. They know. While Facebook is only logging sessions with US-location IPs, when I check out the Your Information section when logged into my account (https://www.facebook.com/your_information), Facebook still knows exactly where I am…

So of course, I’m still hit with the old “People in Canada can’t see this content” message when I try to access CNN, The New York Times, CBC, etc:

And yes, I’ve read the other tutorials (“just use a VPN, it’s easy”), I’ve scrolled through the message boards (“you get your news on Facebook, are you DUMB???”), and so far I’m stumped. And I would love to keep working on this, but apparently I "can't spend 100 hours troubleshooting" and "need to do [my] actual job".

That’s where you come in! I would like to make a deal. With the use of a VPN, can you figure out how to get Facebook to change your “PRIMARY LOCATION” as shown here when you are logged in: https://www.facebook.com/your_information?

If you can solve this great mystery, we will hook you up with a 1 Year Pro Windscribe Subscription (access to all locations, unlimited data, valued at USD $69.) Hint: It may involve “checking in” to your new location to trick Facebook, or so I’ve heard.

Here's what we need from you:

1. Think you’ve solved it?

Provide step-by-step instructions on how to use a VPN to bypass the Facebook block by updating your primary location on Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/your_information). If you want, you can include screenshots or video, but please remember to blur out any personal or identifying information.

2. How to submit your findings:

Twitter: Tweet at us (@windscribecom) with your findings using the hashtag #CleverWindscribe

Discord: If you are a Discord user and prefer to submit your entry there, join our server at discord.gg/VPN and submit your entry in the #facebook-location channel.

3. YOU WIN

On our end, we will test submissions in the order we receive them. If it works, HUZZAH, you get 1 x Year Pro Windscribe. And by "works", I (Rebecca) must be able to follow your steps and successfully change MY location on Facebook and access blocked news content because apparently, my account is the gold standard of impossible to change...

NOTE: This is a one-and-done, so the first successful submission wins.

So What’s Next:

Well, when the Online News Act officially comes into effect at the end of the year, we can expect that Google, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, and other platforms will follow Meta’s lead in blocking news access for Canadians. When that time comes, we will do our best to provide instructions on how you can use Windscribe to bypass the blocks.

In the meantime, consider emailing the new Heritage Minister, Pascale St-Onge, who has a chance to amend the current Bill. OpenMedia has made it easy peasy: https://action.openmedia.org/page/132859/petition/

I don’t want to be a downer, but it’s feeling a little bleak if you depend on Meta, Google, and other social platforms to get your news links in Canada. So if you don’t already have Windscribe, now’s definitely the time - get started today for as little as USD 3 per month!

Welcome back to another edition of Tuesday Newsday™. This week, we have a delectable smorgasbord of deep-fried bite-size news quippets; we're going to journey around the world, starting our trip in the US's very own Lone Star State, Texas.

• Texas Bill HB1811 was struck down by a legal injunction less than 24 hours before it was due to go into enforcement due to a lawsuit filed by the Free Speech Coalition. The bill was a copy-paste of the bill passed in Louisiana at the beginning of 2023, mandating that website owners verify their user's age before granting them access to content deemed "harmful to minors."

Last week (before the injunction), I reached out to several different offices in the state of Texas, including the attorney general, the office of the governor, and the office of the author of the bill himself. I wanted to ask them a simple question: How does the state of Texas plan on enforcing this law?

Nobody was able to answer this question. Fortunately for the people of Texas, this injunction came just in time. The issue of how the state plans to enforce this blatantly unconstitutional law remains to be seen.

• Golf equipment manufacturer Callaway suffered a data breach with roughly 1.1 million affected. The sensitive data that was leaked included:
  • Full names
  • Shipping addresses
  • Email addresses
  • Phone numbers
  • Order histories
  • Account passwords
  • Answers to security questions

• Gabon joins the list of countries undergoing a coup d'état at the moment. The West African nation has seen the same family in power since 1967. The coup started hours after the (now ousted) President, Ali Bongo Ondimba, declared himself victorious.

  • As of Sep 4, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema (cousin of ousted President Bongo FYI) was unanimously voted to be the president of the transitional council by his soldiers. They have promised to return power to the people by organizing free, transparent, and credible elections.

• A Saudi Man with an anonymous Twitter (fuck you x.com) account with less than ten followers has been sentenced to death after retweeting (x'ing??) a post critical of Mohammad bin Salman

• Apple pulls a 180° turn and now supports the right to repair (yes, you read that right). It's now the Scientologists we have to worry about. You may be wondering, why the hell are the Scientologists against the right to repair? Surely they must already get enough money from Tom Cruises' tithing payments, right? Wrong. They are arguing that this new law will jeopardize the use of their E-Meter machines, used as part of their "auditing" ritual.

If you've kept reading until this point, congrats, you're basically done now (and I love you). The key takeaways from this week are: Your golf clubs don't need an email address attached, Texas can't even figure out how to properly censor their own people, & the final boss against the right to repair has entered the arena. I'd be willing to bet that you weren't expecting to read sentences like that today, but then again, this year seems to be constantly one-upping itself almost every week.

Make sure to come back next week for more tasty news bites; I'll be in the kitchen all week. While you surf online, don't forget to keep that Windscribe connection activated (and browse safely, of course!) If you don't have Windscribe already, it's never too late to join our tribe: sign up today!

Welcome to the first edition of the blog version of our Tuesday Newsday™ segment. This week, we'll be diving into breaking news in the tech world that either happened during this past week or has long-standing implications that are still relevant.

Without any further ado, let's get into it:

• The exploitation of the MOVEit file transfer platform has officially become the largest hack of 2023 with over 60 million (known) victims currently. That number is expected to increase with time.

• Hackers using Akira ransomware have begun targeting businesses using Cisco VPN. Akira is a relatively new ransomware that adversarial actors use to infect enterprise networks, encrypt the stolen data, and demand millions in ransom payment for its return.

• The NSA has graciously instructed their employees to treat people with "dignity & respect" while they are spying on them. Glad to know my feelings are being considered while my civil rights are violated on an unprecedented scale.

• The US government is increasingly using "child safety" as a thinly veiled excuse to collect more and more data from its citizens. We're not here to argue whether kids should have access to pornography - they shouldn't - but rather that any implementation of digital age verification systems comes with serious risks. If you're curious, this is already a topic we've covered previously.

So there you have it: a week's worth of doomporn clickbait. If anything, hopefully, you leave this article feeling a little bit more informed, better prepared to take on the world, and with a deep-seated resentment of surveillance capitalism.

On a more serious note, it's never too late to start improving your cybersecurity and privacy practices. The digital world is the new Wild West and anybody who doesn't agree with me has clearly never downloaded something off of LimeWire. Using a VPN like Windscribe is part of a comprehensive strategy to avoid becoming another statistic.  

We'll be back next week with another round of stories and another round of memes. In the meantime, make sure to keep that Windscribe connection activated and browse safely - and if you don't have Windscribe already, then what are you waiting for? Sign up today!

Niger has recently suffered from reduced access to the internet and online services due to a military coup. Internet activity has been intermittent and routing in the locale has been unpredictable.  

Effective immediately, in solidarity with Nigeriens and in pursuit of an open and free internet for all - a Windscribe Relief Code has been released.

WINDSCRIBE RELIEF CODE AVAILABLE FOR: REPUBLIC OF THE NIGER

YIHAKURI— 30GB FREE UPGRADE
(15x more data for our lowest free tier)

Yi Hakuri means "Do not lie" & "tell the truth" in Hausa.

We have witnessed regular internet outages and restrictions over the last few weeks. The Niger military is attempting to censor Nigeriens and as such we have decided to release our first Relief Code to support the region.

How To Access Windscribe

Step 1: Create your free account here
(Existing accounts can apply their code here by adding the code YIHAKURI)

Windscribe.com or Windscribe.net

Step 2: Install Windscribe & Login

Official Windscribe Website Download

Official Windscribe GitHub

Official Windscribe Firefox Add-on

Official Windscribe Google Chrome Plugin

Official Windscribe iOS (Apple) App

Official Windscribe (Windows) App

Official Windscribe Android App

You can also find our latest version of Windscribe on our official Telegram group.

What Are Relief Codes?

Windscribe, as you might guess by now, is committed to promoting freedom of information and expression worldwide.

We recognize that, in many regions, governmental censorship and restrictions limit public access to essential online resources, infringing on citizens' rights to freely access and distribute information. Therefore, we are releasing a "Relief Code" to give these individuals an opportunity to bypass such censorship.

We believe that everyone deserves unfiltered access to the internet, enabling them to make informed decisions, stay connected with loved ones, openly express their views, and access accurate and timely news about local events, issues, and safety measures.

This Relief Code is our way of supporting the global community in circumventing ever-increasing internet restrictions and surveillance. To allow The Republic of Niger to stay connected with the rest of the free world.

Can I Use This Code From Outside That Region?

Our Relief Codes are designed to help people in war-torn and oppressive areas, where private and secure access to information and communication channels is under genuine and immediate threat. Some people, however, see fit to abuse these codes despite not being from the affected region or involved in the conflict and seek to make a quick buck by reselling accounts.

If you aren't the target demographic for any of these codes, we ask that you don't use them for your own gain. If you are thinking about abusing them for your own gain, we ask that you take a good long look at yourself in the mirror and give yourself a stern talking to. If you still want to abuse them after this, then, enjoy being a war profiteer, we guess?

Be aware that we have become very good at mitigating account abuse and bans from our service are permanent.

How Are Relief Code Locations Selected?

Windscribe has access to a comprehensive suite of tools for appraising connectivity across our network and globally. Using this tool, and some handy ones approved by our technical team, we can monitor the global state of connectivity.

We can roll out a Relief Code relatively quickly - but if you feel that your region has been neglected you can raise this here at Windscribe on Twitter.

How Can I Help?

If you are based in Niger or have friends or loved ones there, please let them know that this code is available. This will allow them to connect online and avoid the restrictions placed on social media sites.

Iran has recently suffered from reduced access to the internet. Again.  

Effective immediately, in solidarity with Iranians and in pursuit of an open and free internet for all - a Windscribe Relief Code has been released.

WINDSCRIBE RELIEF CODE AVAILABLE FOR: IRAN

KOSNAGOO— 30GB FREE UPGRADE
(15x more data for our lowest free tier)

Kos Nagoo is used as slang for "Stop the Bullshit" in Farsi.

We have witnessed regular internet outages and restrictions over the last few weeks. The Iranian government is still attempting to censor Iranians and as such we have decided to release another Relief Code.

How to Access Windscribe

Step 1: Create your free account here
(Existing accounts can apply their code here by adding the code KOSNAGOO)

Windscribe.com or Windscribe.net

Step 2: Install Windscribe & Login

Official Windscribe Website Download

Official Windscribe GitHub

Official Windscribe Firefox Add-on

Official Windscribe Google Chrome Plugin

Official Windscribe iOS (Apple) App

Official Windscribe (Windows) App

Official Windscribe Android App

You can also find our latest version of Windscribe on our official Telegram group.

What Are Relief Codes?

Windscribe, as you might guess by now, is committed to promoting freedom of information and expression worldwide.

We recognize that, in many regions, governmental censorship and restrictions limit public access to essential online resources, infringing on citizens' rights to freely access and distribute information. Therefore, we are releasing a "Relief Code" to give these individuals an opportunity to bypass such censorship.

We believe that everyone deserves unfiltered access to the internet, enabling them to make informed decisions, stay connected with loved ones, openly express their views, and access accurate and timely news about local events, issues, and safety measures.

This Relief Code is our way of supporting the global community in circumventing ever-increasing internet restrictions and surveillance. To allow Iran to stay connected with the rest of the free world.

Can I Use This Code From Outside That Region?

Our Relief Codes are designed to help people in war-torn and oppressive areas, where private and secure access to information and communication channels is under genuine and immediate threat. Some people, however, see fit to abuse these codes despite not being from the affected region or involved in the conflict and seek to make a quick buck by reselling accounts.

If you aren't the target demographic for any of these codes, we ask that you don't use them for your own gain. If you are thinking about abusing them for your own gain, we ask that you take a good long look at yourself in the mirror and give yourself a stern talking to. If you still want to abuse them after this, then, enjoy being a war profiteer, we guess?

Be aware that we have become very good at mitigating account abuse and bans from our service are permanent.

How Are Relief Code Locations Selected?

Windscribe has access to a comprehensive suite of tools for appraising connectivity across our network and globally. Using this tool, and some handy ones approved by our technical team, we can monitor the global state of connectivity.

We can roll out a Relief Code relatively quickly - but if you feel that your region has been neglected you can raise this here at Windscribe on Twitter.

How Can I Help?

If you are based in Iran or have friends or loved ones there, please let them know that this code is available. This will allow them to connect online and avoid the restrictions placed on social media sites.

Going back to school?

Our back to school sale has ended but you can still get Windscribe for $69 USD/year!

Every September, you send your children to school to get an education (unless you live in a place where school starts in August - barf) so that they can grow up to contribute to the betterment of humanity. They could end up as doctors! Or astronauts on Mars! Or dodgeball teachers at a reform school somewhere in Cleveland! The last one isn’t even bad, in fact, it’s a prerequisite for becoming the Prime Minister of Canada! So what if we Canadians now have to wait 14 years to get appendectomies… at least it’s free, right? RIGHT?! But there are other great reasons to send your kids to school… like restoring your ability to get kicked out of an Applebees for drunkenly fighting the cake display. Without your children seeing. This time.

Just look at what our education got us… more than 60 million users and the ability to write insane emails that only offend 0.32% of them. Not bad for a 4th grade education! Just kidding, we went to university! Aaaand that makes this sadder than Joe Biden being stuck in a room where he can’t sniff anyone’s hair.

Anyways, enough about us and our questionable decisions – let’s get to you and your great decisions. Buying Windscribe Pro for your kids makes a smart back to school gift - it gives them the ability to block distractions like ads; protect their computers from trackers, phishing and malware; speed up their internet connections, and access hometown content. To make your decision even simpler, we created a brief Good Parent/Bad Parent guide for you to reference below:

But remember folks, Windscribe isn’t just for students - it’s also great for you parents who want to make sure your kids never find out you googled "cheapest boarding schools in Bulgaria” last week after they called you "older than Moses” for using the term "pwn” in a sentence. Those insolent lil’ pipsqueeks!

With love,

Team Windscribe

What happens if your Windscribe connection suddenly goes down? How do you protect your personal IP from leaking? That’s where the Windscribe Firewall comes in.

The Windscribe Firewall is built into our Windows, Mac, and Linux apps and is there to keep you safe in case of a VPN connection failure, whatever the reason may be. The Firewall feature blocks all connectivity outside the VPN tunnel to ensure there is ZERO chance of any kind of leak (including, but not limited to DNS, IPv6, WebRTC, etc.).

You may be wondering - Wait, isn’t this just a Kill Switch? Dear Windscriber, our Firewall is far superior to a kill switch. A kill switch is a reactive measure: it activates only AFTER the VPN has gone down, which allows for a short period of time where some packets can still leak through over your personal IP. Our Firewall is proactive, meaning if you have it turned on, it is always working to block traffic that is not going through the VPN.

We’ve got a great little video for you that walks you through all the details of our Firewall feature and how to enable it on your desktop app:

Take a look!

Windscribe Firewall

Now that you know the ins and outs of our Firewall feature, you can ensure that your personal privacy is locked and loaded by enabling it. If you prefer step-by-step visuals, check out the guide on our Knowledge Base to see how to turn on the Firewall and details on each available Firewall mode.

Ready to sign up for as little as $3 USD per month? Upgrade now!

And, of course, if you have any questions or need some help setting things up, just reach out to Support and we will be happy to give you a hand!

We're coming at you with springtime updates from Windscribe, as well as the Community Team's insight on the state of the internet at large.

Let’s Start With Windscribe Updates

Windscribe Turned 7 Years Old!

On April 20th (nice), we celebrated our birthday in style. It's insane to think that this train has been chugging along for 7 freaking years now. If it were a child, it would be... old (do child years work the same as normal years?). Anyway, as we enter year 8, be prepared for us to continue to jack up our product offerings, keep your data secure and do increasingly crazy stuff to make dictators' lives a living hell 'cause that's what we’re about at Windscribe, baby!

As usual, our team is hard at work keeping everything running smoothly. But that’s not interesting news, now is it? You wanna know what we’ve been working on, what we've accomplished over the last few months, and how things have been moving and shaking. Don't worry baby birds, we'll feed ya - check out some of the awesome updates below.

RAM-Only Nodes

Late last year, we upgraded all of our VPN nodes to boot into a diskless RAM-based environment. That means a crazy amount of security as each one of our servers can be wiped instantly the moment it is tampered with. We're also quite far along working on the next phase of our in-memory service architecture: something we're calling FreshScribe. See how we add the word Scribe to all of our features? That's branding, baby. Stay tuned for the blog post that will explain how it works, as well as the audits we have already done and will be conducting in the very near future ahead of the FreshScribe release. Big ups to the Backend Team!

We've Gone Platinum (CPUs), Baby!

For months, our Systems Team has used the word migration at least 3 times per sentence. A few weeks ago, the big day arrived - we successfully migrated our core infrastructure from a rented datacenter hosted by a third-party in Montreal to a locally-hosted (Toronto) datacenter, self-managed and maintained entirely by our team (and now on platinum CPUs). Why did we make the move? Well, imagine you're renting an apartment - your kitchen ceiling falls in because the unit above you flooded and now you can't get into your kitchen and your landlord is refusing to answer your calls. That's kind of what it was like. So after a year of careful planning, WE ARE THE LANDLORDS NOW. We don't use the word "hero" often, but the Systems Team deserves all the praise and accolades for this major maneuver.

Our Apps Team Has Been Killing It!

We've built a new mechanism to bypass blocking in places like Russia and Iran (beautiful countries, terrible governments) on both mobile and desktop. Version 2.6 is out now and should improve the experience for Win, Mac, and Linux users. The system is still evolving though, mostly because governments don't stop trying to block their citizens from accessing the internet. Thanks, governments, you big jerks!

There is another big feature in version 2.6, and that's an upgraded functionality for failed connections on specific protocols. This mostly applies to users on adversarial networks. Here's an example: say you are trying to connect via the WireGuard protocol and it fails to connect, now the app will automatically try connecting again, and then try the next best protocol. Keep in mind that you can always override these protocol selections, and swap to a different protocol using the home screen. Innovation!

Are you as obsessed with GitHub as we are? No? Fine, well our Windscribe Desktop App GitHub repo is entirely up to date, and you can see the changelog here. You can also access our newest Guinea Pig build (v2.7.5) because that's how we roll. This updated version now has DNS-over-HTTPS/TLS support alongside Split DNS. Oh, we've also accepted our first-ever pull request from a public user! We've also added a Contributor's Guide to streamline the pull request process - before you submit a request, take a look at the Guide then make sure to discuss your change with the Windscribe team via an issue before submitting a pull request. We just want to make sure the change is not already in the works and is doable before you spend too much time on your end! Never has the quote 'If you build it, they will come' from Kevin Costner's classic Field of Dreams been so poignant outside of building baseball fields for ghosts. Is that too old of a reference? Probably. Are we excited to have public contributors? Very much, yes.

We open-sourced our Android app too! If you are curious, here's our Windscribe Android App GitHub repo. And if you're a fancy-pants iOS user, version v3.6 is now available on the App Store too (with new features like auto-connect failover!). For those of you that are loading Windscribe up on your FireStick, v3.7 is available in the Amazon Store as well. Covering all the bases, just like in Field of Dreams. Yes, we know it is a super old reference that most of you won't understand, but age brings wisdom, and we are wise people.

The Web Team Has BIG NEWS!

Keep a close eye on our website! Closer. CLOSER. There we go, that is a good eyeball distance. You might have noticed that we've already overhauled the Knowledge Base section. If you didn't notice, that's okay too, go check it out, there is a lot of great information in there. We'll be continuing to update our website's UI over the next couple of months as well. It's going to be beautiful, like the ending of Field of… never mind.

The Windscribe extension developers have been continuing routine maintenance on the existing version of the extension (MV2). They have addressed some of the small bugs that were reported by our beloved users (thanks, you beauties - keep those bug reports coming!) and are now tying a nice little bow on the final features for the MV3 extension. Hear that cheering in the distance? That is the sound of excellence. But also hear the boos, as Manifest V3 really sucks.

Last, but by no means least, Garry 1.0 has been upgraded. That's right, that lovable digital scamp has been improved. Garry 1.0 is now stronger, faster, lighter, more agile, slightly more mentally stable, sexier, and maybe even taller. Go talk to him! He loves interacting with what he refers to as "the meaty human peasants" (his words, not ours). Garry 2.0 remains under development, so stay tuned for more!

Our VPN Map Got a Huge Update

In case you haven't seen it before, we created this really awesome VPN relationship map. You may be wondering, why did we go to the trouble of researching/creating this? Well, take it from a privacy and security company: our industry can be super toxic. It's full of lies, false claims, and paid referrals to hide those very facts. This map illustrates and highlights the shady happenings in the VPN world so you can stay informed and educated. We've also included every proven relationship between media companies, content sites, corporately-owned VPNs, and independent VPNs that we could find.

BTW, We Have a Side Hustle

In case you didn't know already, Windscribe has a sister company called Control D, an infinitely customizable DNS management service. And, like most sisters, it can do more things than its siblings. She can give you an ungodly amount of control over your internet experience. She can filter your social media usage and unblock geo-restricted content without even needing to install an app! Why can't you be like her, Windscribe? Well, we do different things, Mom! Leave us alone! She isn't a VPN, I am, okay Mom? What do you mean you are taking us out of the will? But that's not FAIR! Go back to drinking wine and watching Succession.

Aaaanyways, Control D is awesome, go check it out. And if you are a Windscribe Pro user already, you can get 50% off! Just type in your username in the payment flow, and boom, you get full control of your network at half the price!

Hot Takes From Our Blog

We've conveniently rounded up our best blog articles for you because we know you are too busy to find them yourself. Here are some of our editor's favorites. In no particular order. We don't play favorites here. Equality is the name of the game.

The Evolution of Ransomware

In this masterpiece, Rebecca slapped on her Cybersecurity professor cap and dropped some serious knowledge for the general public. Honestly though, it's a really good summary of what ransomware is, what are the common ways it happens, and how you can protect yourself.

The Craziest Cases of Identity Theft and How To Prevent Them

Another classic Johnny Mainframe composition, this time focusing on actual, real-life, lol-worthy identity theft cases, as well as the steps you can take to prevent the same from happening to you. 420/69 would recommend, your mind will be blown with these crazy over-the-top schemes.

What the Heck is Split Tunneling?

Oh, so you thought you'd only hear from Rebecca ONCE this spring?? FALSE. She's back for more, this time with a quick word explaining how Split Tunneling works in the Windscribe App.

Windpass

Considering the recent LastPass data leak, we decided it was time that we took matters into our own hands. So we built Windpass, the greatest password manager to ever exist. A password manager so secure, it doesn't even remember your passwords!

Choosing a Password Manager

In light of the aforementioned LastPass data leaks, we decided it would be important to write an educational piece to help our users understand the importance of choosing a rock-solid password manager to make your digital life a bit more secure. We've also included some recommendations based on our professional opinions as a privacy company. Obviously, your first choice should be Windpass but we understand if you don't want to put all your eggs in our basket.

The State of the Internet: In Case You Missed It

Repression and internet censorship continue to be super popular among dick-tators.

The troubles in Iran continue. Windscribe continues to provide support to charities, protestors, schools, and journalists in Iran. We are still hosting Signal proxies and temporarily provided triple the data quota for Windscribers in the region.

War breaks out in Sudan. Two generals have started a power struggle, much to the detriment of the Sudanese people themselves. Similar to our efforts in Iran, we temporarily tripled the data quota for users in the region as well as spun up additional Signal proxies to circumvent service disruptions.

If you represent an organization that requires support, get in touch with Windscribe - we LOVE f*#&ing with dictators. Speaking truth to power is the ultimate form of rebellion, and we at Windscribe like to think of ourselves as rebels.

France and several US states have introduced ways to track online internet usage by creating systems for digital identification.

The United States Senate has introduced the RESTRICT ACT for voting. The bill has far-reaching implications for VPN users trying to circumvent US government censorship, especially regarding the use of Tik-Tok.

Chrome's "Manifest V3" plan to limit ad-blocking extensions is delayed.

Classified Pentagon documents were leaked in a Discord server.

And that's us signing off for now. Expect to hear more from us soon about new updates and features that we're adding as we traverse the path towards VPN-fection. If you have feature requests, comments, questions, or concerns, email us at [email protected].

Lots of love, and unlimited good wishes,

Team Windscribe

VIEW THE FULL MAP

What Am I Looking At?

This beauty right here is every proven relationship between media companies, content sites, corporate VPNs, and independent VPNs that we could find.

Why does that matter? Well, take it from a VPN company: our industry can be super toxic. It’s full of lies, false claims, and paid referrals to hide those very facts. This map illustrates and highlights the shady happenings in the VPN world so you can stay informed and educated.

We hope to map and track new information that might prove useful to people with the help of more contributors in future updates.

The VPN industry has seen significant growth and changes in the past year.  As privacy and security concerns continue to rise, VPNs have become a crucial tool for individuals and businesses alike in protecting their online activities.

Here's a rundown of the major news stories that shook the VPN landscape in 2022 and 2023.

VPN Ban in Russia

In 2022, the Russian government implemented a ban on VPNs, citing concerns over their use for accessing restricted content and bypassing government-imposed internet censorship. Despite the ban, many VPN providers continue to offer their services in Russia, often using obfuscation techniques to avoid detection.

Here at Windscribe, we recently tripled our free quota for users in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to alleviate censorship of the war and allow citizens to know the truth about the war, and circumvent the effectiveness of Russian government propaganda.

Source

Twitter Restrictions in Turkey

On February 8, Twitter was restricted in Turkey following a major earthquake that killed over 11,500 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria. Netblocks, which tracks global connectivity, reported that the restriction came when the public relied on the platform for communication in the aftermath of the disaster.

Turkish Twitter users, including opposition figures, academics, and NGOs, protested this move as it hindered communication when it was needed the most.

Here at Windscribe, we provided a relief code to triple data, enabling people to discover the true extent of the issues and remain connected during the difficult time.

Source

Iranian Censorship

Since the protests began in Iran on 16 September, the government has implemented internet shutdowns and increased censorship. Services such as Instagram and WhatsApp have been blocked, and authorities are targeting VPNs. They blocked access to free VPNs, removed VPN apps from Google Play and Apple App Store, and deactivated VPN servers accessible in the country.

Despite these crackdowns, Windscribe has helped Iranian citizens beat censorship and maintain access to the internet once again by providing a relief code.

In case it’s not obvious at this point - we have acted against every large government censorship globally. It’s generally our policy. We’re fighting for an open internet that benefits everyone.

Source

The rise of Quantum resistant measures

In late 2022, other VPN providers like NordVPN and ExpressVPN started offering quantum-resistant VPNs to their users. Not to brag, but we’ve been using PSK measures since the introduction of Wireguard. Mullvad has also recently done the same.

This means the industry as a whole is starting to take steps to tackle the potential threat of quantum computing, which could potentially crack current encryption methods. Quantum-resistant VPNs use advanced encryption algorithms to ensure user data remains secure even in the face of quantum computing advancements.

Source

Apple Removes VPN Apps from the Chinese App Store

In a controversial move, Apple removed several VPN apps from its App Store in China in 2023 due to pressure from the Chinese government. These VPN apps allowed users to bypass the country's Great Firewall and access blocked content. Critics argue that Apple's decision undermines internet freedom and privacy for Chinese users.

Source

Chinese Government Agency Breach Exposes Personal Information

The Shanghai Police fell victim to a cyberattack in 2022, with hackers gaining access to the personal information of millions of citizens, including names, addresses, and Social Security numbers.

What made this incident interesting to some is that it was the single biggest breach of data in China to date. The incident prompted calls for increased cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive government data.

Source

Meta, Owner of Facebook, Fined €1.2bn for Mishandling User Information

In 2023, a data breach at Facebook exposed the personal information of over 500 million users, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and private messages. The incident raised serious concerns about the platform's data security practices and led to increased scrutiny from regulators and users alike.

Notably, they decide they would not inform users about said breach.

Source

VPN Use Surges Amid Global Privacy Concerns

The demand for VPNs skyrocketed in 2022 and 2023, as users worldwide sought to protect their privacy and access blocked content. This increased demand has led to a surge in “Free” VPN providers entering the market - and unfortunately with that comes a surge in breaches - but we’ll get to that next.

Take it from us. We see a noticeable increase in free users whenever some dictator starts enforcing their best ideas.

Source

Free VPNs Under Scrutiny for Data Breaches

Several free VPN providers faced backlash in 2022 and 2023 after security breaches exposed user data. Bean VPN & Airplane Accelerates were the big offenders. Bean VPN’s breach affected over 50M users and Airplane Accelerates leaked 5.7B user records. These incidents highlighted the risks associated with using free VPN services, prompting many users to switch to paid VPN providers with more robust security measures in place.

Free VPNs affected:

• UFO VPN
• FAST VPN
• Free VPN
• Super VPN (Twice)
• Flash VPN
• Secure VPN
• Rabbit VPN

These free VPN providers were responsible for 1.2TB of leaks, demonstrating just how safe users aren’t when they may be led to believe they are when using new free options that spring up out of nowhere.

SuperVPN went for the double whammy as they again exposed 360,308,817 records, totaling 133 GB in size. The leaked data contained sensitive user information such as email addresses, IP addresses, geolocation data, server usage records, secret keys, and device details. Despite SuperVPN's claim of not storing user logs even though they were previously breached, the latest data breach suggests they learned absolutely nothing.

The only reason we can have a free plan at all is because we have paid users who support that model. It is an expensive endeavor but because we have invested in our infrastructure we can provide many locations for free.

So when you see a brand new “free service” pop up - make sure you check it out before jumping on board.

Source

Credit Suisse Data Leak

In 2022, a major data breach at Credit Suisse Bank exposed the personal information of over 100 million customers, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and financial data. The breach was attributed to a vulnerability in the bank's security infrastructure, which allowed hackers to access the sensitive data.

Source

Neopets Data Leak

Neopets disclosed a data breach that exposed the personal information of over 69 million members, resulting from attackers accessing their IT systems between January 3, 2021, and July 19, 2022.

The breach was discovered when a hacker attempted to sell a Neopets database containing 460MB of source code and sensitive information for four bitcoins. Affected data includes names, email addresses, usernames, dates of birth, gender, IP addresses, Neopets PINs, hashed passwords, and game-related data.

As a personal side note: Damn, I loved Neopets back in the day. Same as Tamagotchi but no worries there about the email I made when I was 15 being hacked.

Source

MSI Ransomware Attack

Taiwanese PC vendor MSI confirmed a network breach following reports of a ransomware attack by the Money Message ransomware gang. The gang claims to have infiltrated MSI's systems, demanding a $4 million ransom to stop them leaking stolen files online.

While not disclosing details of the attack, MSI stated that it has had no "significant" operational or financial impact, and security enhancements have been implemented to ensure data security.

The company has warned customers to obtain BIOS and firmware updates only from its official website.

I was originally going to make a meme using “Lucky”, their mascot… but I’m not paid enough to google that. I’m sure you know why.

Source

Twitter Data Breach

Researchers have determined that a cache that was leaked of about 200 million email addresses linked to Twitter users - previously rumored to include data from 400 million accounts -  likely resulted from a refinement of the larger data set with duplicates removed.

The data was exposed from June 2021 to January 2022 due to a bug in Twitter's application programming interface (API). The flaw enabled attackers to use contact information to access associated Twitter accounts, potentially identifying users. The bug, which Twitter has since patched, could have led to phishing attacks, identity theft attempts, and individual targeting.

The API vulnerability impacted pseudonymous Twitter accounts as it exposed users' email addresses and phone numbers linked to them, which could compromise their privacy.

Come January 2023, various news outlets reported that a shocking 235 million Twitter accounts had their email addresses shared on a hacking forum. Though the data stolen wasn't highly sensitive, it may still pose a risk to users if the email addresses leaked are exploited by other malicious actors.

Plus, think about how much more spam Twitter users are going to get now.

Source

Source 2

Western Digital Hack

Hackers who breached Western Digital claim to have stolen around 10 terabytes of data, including customer information, and are demanding a minimum eight-figure ransom for not publishing the data. Western Digital disclosed a network security incident on April 3, stating certain data was obtained from its systems.

The hackers provided details to TechCrunch, including a file signed by Western Digital's code-signing certificate, and phone numbers allegedly belonging to company executives.

Source

US House of Representatives Data Breach

Hackers potentially accessed sensitive personal data of members of the US House and Senate, their staff, and families in a breach of Washington DC's health insurance marketplace, DC Health Link. The organization confirmed customer data was affected and is notifying those impacted while working with law enforcement.

The FBI is assisting in the investigation and affected individuals are being offered identity theft services and extended credit monitoring.

LastPass Was Breached. Again.

LastPass has disclosed that a threat actor stole corporate and customer data by hacking an employee's personal computer and installing keylogger malware, granting access to the company's cloud storage.

This follows security breaches last year, which led to the password manager's source code and customer vault data being stolen. The company has since taken additional security measures, such as revoking certificates and rotating credentials. LastPass users have been advised to change all their stored passwords as a precautionary measure.

We actually cast them a teeny-tiny bit of shade with our parody for April Fool’s Day this year [BLOG https://blog.wvpn.net/introducing-windpass/]

Source

OVPN Was Acquired by Pango, Owner of Hotspot Shield

Pango has bought OVPN. OVPN joins the ranks of Hotspot Shield, Ultra VPN, 360 VPN, and Betternet. While OVPN has enjoyed a spotless reputation,  Hotspot Shield was reported to the FTC for allegedly deceptive trade practices involving unethical logging and data sharing.

HotSpot Shield also has a reputation for, at least in the past, including adware in their installer.

Betternet ranked as the fourth most hits on VirusTotal (13 antivirus hits) among the VPN apps on Google Play that Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, tested.

Betternet was allegedly founded by Iran's Vice President's son and then bought by Pango.

Source

Fun Facts: There are 800,000 Attacks Annually

- A hacker attack occurs every 39 seconds.

- Hospitals, as part of the healthcare sector, are the most frequent targets of ransomware attacks.

- The majority of malware, 92%, is transmitted through email.

- At any moment, around 4.1 million websites contain malware.

- On average, it takes 49 days to detect a ransomware attack.

- A staggering 97% of security breaches exploit vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins.

- Cryptocurrency valued at over $3 billion has been compromised.

Source

Other VPN Map Sources

Most information regarding organizations found here is taken directly from the site listed at the top of their node. Additional information is taken from the following sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org
• https://www.dnb.com
• https://www.similarweb.com
• https://companycheck.co.uk
• https://www.reuters.com
• https://apnews.com
• https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
• https://linkedin.com

These sources are used to confirm basic information about the companies involved, such as location, website URLs, and where the majority of their team operates from.

VPNs - If the majority of the technical and senior staff are based in a specific country, then that is considered their "based" location. We reference where the company is officially registered and use that to base their tax information.

Corporations - Many of the corporations listed here do not provide a simple insight into where they may be located. Here, we have surmised where a corporate entity is based using the location of key C-suite staff members.

Want to chat? Need a source? Do you have gushing praise or hate for it? Let me know at [email protected] or on Twitter @SobeyHarker.

Since the start of this year, there have been several important developments in the legal censorship sphere. In the United States, state legislatures are debating the creation of systems of digital identification and the use of VPNs to circumvent such systems. Because we are an internet privacy company, we saw this as a unique opportunity to seek out and speak to a direct source involved in this process and hear more context about what is happening.

Objecting to Louisiana’s HB142

I had the unique opportunity to speak to Representative Mandie Landry, from Louisiana’s 91st district. Rep. Landry defines herself as an advocate for progress and despite facing tremendous opposition, she fights for justice for marginalized communities and stands up against systemic injustices in Louisiana every day. Don’t just take our word for it, you can read directly about her priorities and legislation here. When she’s not crusading for public justice, she also offers her services as an experienced attorney at law, specializing in a number of areas.

The reason that I wanted to speak to Representative Landry, in particular, was her vote of defiance against the recently implemented HB 142. This was a bill that empowered the state government to create (and outsource the implementation of) a digital system of ID verification, called the LA Wallet. Residents of Louisiana can upload the details of their driver's license or other official identification and, once verified, use the digital license as they would normally with the physical copy. There is very little information (in both technical and financial sense) in the public domain that describes exactly how the LA Wallet and sites that contain “content harmful to minors” are cooperating with one another.

Breaking Down the Legislation

The headlines for this legislation generally focus on the usage of this system for users who are trying to access pornographic content. Upon a closer inspection, I found that the language of the bill was actually broader (and more vague) when defining what constitutes content that is “harmful to minors.”

In the context of pornography, if a website contains more than 33% sexually explicit content, it’s considered harmful to minors. The language of the bill is very specific and rather thorough about what different types of content are considered sexual in nature. However, there is a final clause in that definition, a single sentence at the bottom of the definition where the language seems very purposefully vague. It reads as follows:

The material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

It’s also important to note that this bill now gives ISPs explicit permission to block or reroute web traffic to sites considered harmful to minors if the user's age hasn't been verified. This creates a very ominous situation, where a site could be deemed “harmful” for entirely arbitrary reasons, and have its access from within Louisiana completely blocked.

Considering the political atmosphere in the United States regarding things like abortion, especially in Southern and generally conservative states, it’s not hard to imagine ways in which this system will be abused.

An Interview with Rep. Mandie Landry on LA HB 142

Q: Can you elaborate on why you voted against LA HB 142?

It was a bill about children and porn, no matter what it was going to pass. As the most progressive member of the state legislature, including my own district, I have the freedom to vote differently. Honestly, I didn’t think it was necessary. Personally, I think this is a parent thing. It's on them to monitor and decide what’s appropriate for their children. It seems like a very “big government” thing to do, which is ironic from Republicans. In Louisiana, we still have really poor kids who don't even have access to the internet at home, so it felt unnecessary.

The representative who filed the bill says it's harmful, but very minimal evidence was provided on the cost or effectiveness of this system. In fact, Rep Schlegel has a Master of Arts (Marriage & Family Counseling) from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Her practice is specifically sex addiction or something in that sphere, so it’s easy to see that she may have a very clear point of view on this.  Kids these days already know how to get around this, so it's ultimately up to the parents to take ownership of this kind of thing.

Q: The language in the bill is only very specific about pornographic materials in the “harmful for minors” definition, but very vague about scientific, political, literary, or artistic content. What is the reason for this?

That was (probably) not the specific intent, but I can absolutely see this system getting used that way. Some of the language in this bill is already pretty ridiculous, i.e. the 33% ruling about adult content. What if it’s only 30% adult content? Under the language of this bill, that would be fine.

In my opinion, there is no real practical solution for this problem. And another thing, I also think this is unconstitutional in a commercial sense. It’s a product that crosses state lines, therefore it’s up to the federal government to make these kinds of decisions.

Q: The new law allows ISPs to reroute traffic, is there concern that this functionality will be abused to silence opponents?

That’s absolutely how it could be used. It’s absolutely not legal either. I can see ISPs not wanting to risk any lawsuit or liability from the state. This also applies in the area of abortion pills online.

For example, a company based in New York that ships to Louisiana is liable, which violates the commerce clause of the constitution (i.e. the clause restricts states from impairing interstate commerce). The chilling effect is that it's unconstitutional, but the companies producing these “illicit” materials will simply stop selling. If you can’t get a bunch of them together to bring serious amounts of money into a lawsuit, the state has the control.

Q: What guarantees can the state make that user data is safe in the hands of a 3rd party company?

I am honestly not 100% certain of the parameters of its usage. What I do know is that it’s a digital driver's license that can also be used for other licenses. The company in charge of the LA Wallet has supposedly set up a program with PornHub that would tell the website if a user is over 18 but no data is retained. I’m not familiar with the technological side of things though.

There is really no way to assure people that the info will never come out. I wasn’t in the committee that voted on it, one of the senators who is a lawyer laid out the legal questions, (i.e. don’t the viewers have the right to choose?) but that seemingly wasn’t a concern.

Q: By giving the government the power to ban or restrict any ICTs that it deems a threat, the Restrict Act could undermine the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens to access and share information online. Do you agree with this statement?

Absolutely.

It has always been going towards censorship. Some people find things acceptable whereas others don't. It’s seen large-scale adoption by the far right. I always ask: Should false information about things like vaccines be allowed? Are tax assessor records part of the public domain if they can be used to find where I live? There’s a gray area when it comes to what we consider a free exercise.

National grassroots legislation movements have been going around the country preaching things like this. I thought this particular movement came from Rep Schlegel, but I'm curious if it was planted by one of the larger national groups. Conservative lobby groups like ALEC or Heritage Foundation, a lot of it seems to have been tested here in Louisiana first. What I find interesting is that it seems to be portrayed as being “from” here. It all kind of started with the library stuff, which has been going on for a year or two, alongside the debate about CRT.

There’s Likely More to Come

So there you have it, words from a real person involved in the process itself.

To be honest, the discussion did not inspire confidence in the system at large for me. There’s at least one silver lining: it gives us a unique chance to use our reach to educate the public about these sorts of issues.

It’s now likely that we will see more copycat bills and a general shift towards giving governments even more powers to censor content and people deemed “harmful” by the state. A state which is increasingly influenced by private entities with a seriously alarming agenda.

The goal of these groups like ALEC is to enact policy change that represents their ideal view of what the United States government should look like - a view that many of us are likely to disagree with. We try not to get too overtly political, but when it comes to censorship of information, we at Windscribe have a rather hardline stance on this matter.

Our debate is not about the dangers of pornography but about your right to access content free of undue influence or censorship. It’s in the hands of every individual (or guardian) to make a conscientious choice about their or their ward's content consumption.

Thank you to Rep. Mandie Landry for contributing their time and thoughts for this interview.

Throughout the history of commerce, there have been less-than-honest folks that are happy to embellish the truth here and fabricate a clever lie there so they can make a quick buck. In ye olden days, it was the likes of the traveling “exotic goods” salesman with a cart full of strange items of which he makes dubious claims of value, history, or even magic.

In modern days, some marketers still embellish, obfuscate, and lie. In the VPN industry, one of the most common baits by shady VPNs is how many countries they have server locations in.

The Virtual Server Fakeout

The inflated country counts are facilitated by virtual server locations. A virtual server location is one for which the actual physical server exists in a location that is not the claimed/advertised location. Most providers operating virtual server locations run the actual server in countries with low bandwidth costs while faking the location with false IP WHOIS data to make it appear that it is elsewhere.

This results, first and foremost, in subpar performance for users - a reality conveniently ignored by our competitors for a few extra bucks at the cost of honesty. There are more insidious considerations for some users, though, like potential legal repercussions for anyone looking to connect to servers in specific countries because of privacy protections afforded by the laws of the said country.

Take ExpressVPN’s “Taiwan” location, for example: a protester/activist from Hong Kong might want to connect to “Taiwan” to go the extra mile and choose a VPN endpoint outside the jurisdiction of Hong Kong / China. They continue to pursue their activism whilst believing they have an extra layer of protection against, for example, wiretapping only to find they have been misled into connecting to a VPN server located physically in Hong Kong. This might not be an issue that affects most users but the disregard for user agency is still shameful.

Looking at Latency Impact

To demonstrate the point, ExpressVPN specifies that its Ecuador location is actually hosted in Brazil. Windscribe’s Ecuador location on the other hand is actually hosted in Ecuador.

For an ExpressVPN user located in Ecuador and wanting to connect to a server in Ecuador (for the lowest latency), connecting to ExpressVPN’s “Ecuador” location would result in a client-server connection latency of >150 ms (since the client is in Ecuador, but the server is in Brazil).

In contrast, for a Windscribe user located in Ecuador who wants to connect to a server in Ecuador (for the lowest latency), connecting to Windscribe’s Ecuador location would result in a client-server connection latency of <1 ms (since the client is in Ecuador, and the server is also in Ecuador).

Hat-tip to the folks at mtr.tools - the tool that made this demonstration possible by playing the Ecuadorian user in our example!

The Exposé

Now that we have established how the use of virtual server locations benefits the marketing team of the VPN company providing it (and possibly their infrastructure costs by not having to pay for premium bandwidth) at the cost of impeded performance for its users, let’s analyze how many countries some of our competitors actually operate physical servers in:

ExpressVPN

Claimed number of countries: 94

Countries that are virtual server locations: 47

Number of countries with physical servers: 94 - 47 = 47

Surfshark

Claimed number of countries: 100

Countries that are virtual server locations: 43

Number of countries with physical servers: 100 - 43 = 57

While it’s concerning that Surfshark made no attempt to differentiate between physical and virtual server locations on their website, I would like to thank Jimmy from Surfshark support for going the extra mile and pulling this list from the Surfshark app.

ProtonVPN

Claimed number of countries: 67

Countries that are virtual server locations: 17

Number of countries with physical servers: 67 - 17 = 50

Credit to ProtonVPN for highlighting the benefit of the cheaper bandwidth costs of virtual servers.

CyberGhost VPN

Claimed number of countries: 91

Countries that are virtual server locations: 32

Number of countries with physical servers: 91 - 32 = 59

Hide.Me

The list goes on, and I could do this all day. To the aforementioned providers’ credit - they in some capacity do disclose their use of virtual server locations. Some others like Hide.Me, however, use virtual server locations despite claiming not to.

Windscribe VPN

Claimed number of countries: 69 ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Countries that are virtual server locations: 1 (Fake Antarctica)

Number of countries with physical servers: 69 - 1 = 68

With servers physically located in 68 countries, we are confident that we provide our users access to physical servers in more countries than any competitor of ours.

Windscribe Has Your Back

We hope that this foray into the murky world of VPN marketing helps shed some light on one of the most common tricks that some companies perform. Here, at Windscribe, we are committed to transparency and integrity and will always endeavor to keep our claims factual - like how we have more physical server locations than all of the competitors listed above (and more) despite their inflated numbers!

If you’d like to get access to the most extensive and diverse VPN server network out there, then sign up for Windscribe Pro today.

Disclaimer: Data is valid as of 16 May 2023.

At Windscribe, “transparency” is not just a word we throw around. It’s hard-coded into our daily actions and guides our overarching ethics and philosophy as a VPN provider. From customer data to law enforcement requests to open-sourcing our app codebase, here are some of the ways transparency is embodied at Windscribe:

The Less We Know, The Better: No Identifying Logs

Not just a banger Tame Impala tune, but words to live by. As a privacy company, we feel it would be both hypocritical and morally irresponsible to maintain any identifying logs. So we don’t. Your data is as important to us as it is to you and we believe you deserve to be able to make informed decisions about it. We’ve laid out our entire privacy policy here without any of that fancy lawyer speak. We also wrote this masterpiece of literature which explains our logging policies in great technical detail. If it’s unclear to you, we’re always reachable to clarify any questions you may have.

At Windscribe, we do not maintain any records of your connections, IP timestamps, or session logs, and we do not monitor your online activities. We do keep track of the last time you used our service and the amount of bandwidth you consumed in a 30-day cycle. This information is used to enforce the limitations of our free tier and prevent any potential misuse. It is important to note that this data is not kept historically and only represents a rolling counter.

• This also means that we have nothing to give law enforcement should they request data from us. You can find more information in our live Transparency Report.

We Are An Open Book (Of Code)

That’s right, we provide open-source code for our Desktop apps (Mac, Windows, and Linux), Android app, and our Browser extension. Do you want to see how the sausage is made? Do you want to tweak/customize/break? We’re providing our app code right here - knock yourself out! You also check out our Desktop App Audit and the Mobile App Audit.

Stay in the Know with Our Live Server Status Page

Our live server status page is permanently publicly available, so you can make the most informed decisions in terms of where to connect. Not sure which servers are up or down? Curious about the server usage percentage at this exact moment? We got you.

For example, here is a quick look at our UK server locations - at the time of the screenshot, London Custard had only 4% usage, with the highest usage on London Crumpets at 29%. At Windscribe, we work to ensure server locations are never overloaded and aim to keep our % usage numbers on the lower side of things.

You can also use this page to take a quick look at which locations do not allow peer-to-peer traffic - keep an eye out for the crossed-out P2P icon and do not connect to these locations if you are, um, you know, downloading stuff.

It’s worth noting that you can also check these metrics directly in the Windscribe app, provided you have the “Show Location Load” toggle activated in General Preferences.

We Pull Our Own Strings: No Outside Funding

Did you know? Windscribe has zero venture capitalist involvement or outside funding. This means all the decisions we make are based on principle, not based on what investors want.

Us? Track You? Never.

Windscribe has absolutely zero 3rd party trackers on our website. As a VPN provider with tracker-blocking capabilities, it would be absolutely absurd of us to use tracking on our own website. So we don’t. But you can’t say that for other VPNs - take a look:

Using Chrome DevTools and the Sources Tab, we can check the number of unique domains that are requested when you load any website. See those Google, Facebook, and Cookiebot domains for Nord and Surfshark? Those are 3rd party trackers - every time you visit those sites, data about you is being collected without you even knowing it. You don’t see any of those on the Windscribe site. We wrote an article a while back about this and a lot of this information is still relevant 4 years later. In fact, the tracking tech has only gotten better since then.

In fact, you may find it surprising to learn that most of these VPN companies are really just marketing companies in everything but name. We feel very strongly that this is a serious issue within the VPN industry, so much so that we created this VPN map to illustrate the shady nature under which many companies operate.

Let Us Give It to You Straight

If you’re keen to learn more specific details about what differentiates Windscribe from other companies, we’ve summarized it all for you right here in our Ethics and Philosophy statement.

And in case you’re not that much of a reader, here’s a snapshot of what you can expect from us:

Things we DON’T do:

• Analytics/tracking on Windscribe.com
• Paid ads
• Paid VPN reviews
• Paid sponsorships
• Social Shilling (that means no paid influencers)
• Logging personal data

Things we do:

• Offer a free service; sometimes people can’t pay for privacy but that shouldn’t stop them from having a right to it
• Listen to our users; there are several ways to get in touch with us for feature requests or support - so don’t hesitate to reach out!

Here are all the ways you can get in touch:

• Support Helpdesk
• Feedback Portal
• Reddit
• Twitter
• Discord

Have you ever looked around the Windscribe app and wondered to yourself - what exactly is Split Tunneling and how does it work? Well, you aren’t alone, and I’m here to show you what it’s all about.

This powerful feature, available on Windows, MacOS*, and Android apps, allows you to decide which internet traffic goes through Windscribe and which doesn’t. For example, you may want your Netflix traffic to connect directly to the internet through your internet service provider while wanting your email traffic to connect through the virtual private network.

Usually, when you connect to Windscribe via the Desktop or Android app, all internet traffic goes through the VPN. However, you may not want this -  with the use of Split Tunneling, you can decide which domains, apps, and IPs use Windscribe and which do not.

We’ve got a couple handy little videos to help you better understand what Split Tunneling is and how to set it up:

Split Tunneling on Desktop

Split Tunneling on Android

We hope this helps break things down for you! If you prefer step-by-step visuals, check out the guide on our Knowledge Base: What Is Split Tunneling and How To Use It

And of course, if you have any questions or need some help setting things up, just reach out to Support and we will be happy to give you a hand!

*Due to some limitations on MacOS, Split Tunneling can only be done at the IP/Hostname level. Blame Apple for this. And you can also blame Apple for no Split Tunneling on iOS. We aren’t happy about it either.

There are many reasons to celebrate 4/20. For thousands millions of people, it's an opportunity to talk incessantly about how strong their weed is and how communism "actually works on paper." We don’t particularly care as long as it stays on paper. None of us at Windscribe are built to till fields; our hands are much too moisturized for such things.

Others celebrate more important anniversaries, like the founding of a VPN company. That's right, you beautiful babies, it's Windscribe's 7th birthday today! On this very day, seven years ago, brilliant minds came together with a single mission: Keep Mark Zuckerberg from finding out the size of our private parts when browsing the internet.

An idea was born, and it just so happened that the person who was writing down the details broke wind, and so Windscribe was born. Turns out life really does imitate art.

For seven years, we have worked our buttflaps off to create software to keep your personal information safe online. Seven beautiful, Red-Bull-filled years. A lot has changed since Windscribe's humble beginnings… we’ve grown from a team of 3 to almost 50 employees! We've gone from 0 users to over 50 million!

We no longer drink cheap coffee brewed from parking lot gravel and sewer water; we’ve graduated to using filtered water. We no longer subsist on a diet of government cheese and pushups; now we eat 7-11 sandwiches with the crusts cut off and our pinkies up. Most importantly, our employees are no longer paid in bags of Cheerios, like infants, but with bags of premium protein powder and chewable multivitamins, like adults. And cash, also.

Ahh, the good life. And it is all thanks to you, our users.

As much as this is an anniversary celebration for us, in truth, we are really celebrating you, and we wanted to thank all of you for using Windscribe. We know there are a lot of choices out there, and we deeply appreciate you picking us to keep you safe online. We are clearly the best-est, securest, funniest, and modest-est VPN company out there. After all, you can't spell Windscribe without "win".

With eternal thanks, and a generous sprinkle of love,

Team Windscribe