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Hey guys… I won't lie to you. I'm not doing well. I've scoured the Internet for the past
three days looking for the worst VPNs available. I have seen horrors beyond my comprehension.
But! I'm here now, and I'm going to be showing you guys
my findings. Please note that this video contains awful VPN content that some viewers
may find disturbing. You won't believe some of the VPNs I've encountered during my investigation.
Nah, I'm only joking. We're going to be tearing these VPNs to shreds… I mean,
we're going to critique them. Instead of grading them out of 5 stars,
we’re going to start them off at -5, and if they get something right, we’ll add a star.
Let's take a look.
Case No. 1: Hotspot Shield
During my investigations, I was appalled by the number of VPN services that seem to just…
miss the entire point of VPNs. Look, we all know what VPNs are supposed to do:
at their basic, most fundamental level, VPNs are supposed to make all of your
personal information anonymous. But how many of them stick to the memo?
Not Hotspot Shield, that's for damn sure.
Unlike others on this list, Hotspot Shield has a pretty good reputation,
but it's my duty as a journalist to show it for what it is: a scam, I tell you!
A monthly subscription to Hotspot Shield will set you back $12.99 each and every month, and an
annual subscription costs $95.58 every year. Seems ridiculous, right? After all, there are plenty
of cheaper VPNs out there. What gives Hotspot Shield the right to charge you an arm and a leg?
But wait! It gets worse.
Hotspot Shield allows you to use it for free as long as you don't
mind having your data logged while you use it.
"But wait, Josh - VPNs aren't supposed to record your data!"
You're right, my beautiful viewer. And I think Hotspot knows you're right as well because,
to their credit, they're pretty transparent when it comes to their privacy policies.
Hotspot Shield gathers things like your session duration, device hashes,
and your IP address each time you use it. This information is deleted at the end of your session,
but it's still a huge step backward compared to other companies' policies.
On top of all of that, Hotspot Shield also monetizes its free version by using services
like Google Ads and SDKs, which… Oh yes, that's right - they collect your data!
Hotspot Shield even has a "Don't sell my personal information" button on their website. What?
Now, again, Hotspot Shield is pretty transparent about all of this -
but in today's market, there are so many great free VPNs out there
(link in the description, by the way) that Hotspot just doesn’t cut it.
Hotspot Shield gets half a star for transparency, but it’s still
pretty terrible. -4.5 stars out of 5.
Case No. 2: TouchVPN
You may have heard of TouchVPN. It's easily one of the most popular free VPNs,
with 10 million downloads on Google Play. That's not an exaggeration,
by the way. It also has a 4.3-star rating, which means that most people are pretty happy.
But not me… and I’m NOT projecting what I’ve been trauma dumping on my therapist.
Although there are a couple of 1 and 2-star reviews on the Play Store,
most of them just complain about the app's technical flaws, the occasional bug or crash.
But none of them pay any attention to the VPNs' privacy policies. Which are terrible.
See, TouchVPN used to belong to NorthGhost, which was pretty fishy, seeing as that company's website
was empty. Now they're owned by the Aura group, who also own Hotspot Shield.
That's a huge problem. Remember that "Don't sell my personal information"
button on Hotspot Shield's website? Yeah, well, underneath that, there's a line that reads:
"Aura does not sell your personal information except in the context of
some free versions of our VPN products that are supported by personalized advertising."
Sorry, what? Isn't the whole point of a VPN supposed to be about protecting
my personal information and ensuring my anonymity on the Internet? Hmmm…
At least Hotspot Shield lets you pay to keep your information protected.
Unlike that app, however, TouchVPN is only available for free. That means
there’s nothing you can do to prevent the app from gathering your personal data and
possibly selling it to the highest bidder. Please don't fall for it.
Because of everything I’ve just mentioned, TouchVPN gets a whopping -5 stars out of 5.
Case No. 3: Hola VPN
Oh boy, I was afraid it would come to this. Look, you guys know that I'm not the biggest fan of Hola
VPN. In fact, I've been pretty scathing towards it in a couple of videos already, so I'll try
not to ramble on for too long. In fact, why don't I let our reporter in the field take over? Tom?
Thank you, Josh. Hola VPN has found itself in a spot of trouble lately
due to the ongoing feud between two of its founders, brothers Derry and Colin Shribman.
Colin has alleged that the service plants a "trojan horse" of sorts on users' devices,
which logs, saves, and processes user data such as IP addresses once every week.
Oh boy, that sounds pretty bad.
Yep. Colin also stated that one of Hola's clients is the NSO Group Technologies, an
Israeli tech company famous for its proprietary spyware, Pegasus. Hola's parent company,
Luminati, has stated that NSO did not use Hola for its espionage operations.
Jeez! Sounds bad. What does all of this mean, Tom?
Well, Josh, Hola makes it pretty clear that they log your information, including your name and
email address, IP address, web pages you visit, time spent on those pages, access times and dates,
et cetera. Even more alarming is the line in their privacy policy that states that Hola may disclose
"minimal personal information to its trusted partners and third parties."
In short, I think it's safe to say that Hola is one of the worst VPNs currently available.
In fact, I’d go so far as to give it -6 stars out of 5. Back to you, Josh.
Thanks, Tom. Well, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Onto…
Case No. 4: EarthVPN
Well, guys, I've spent a lot of this video talking about some pretty scary stuff.
Some international conglomerate actively logging and selling your personal information
is quite terrifying. I think it's time we take a break from all the gloom and doom and focus
on a VPN service that… isn't really a service at all, which makes it funny. Let me explain.
EarthVPN has a really charming and colorful website. All of it looks professional and well
put together. There's a big orange prompt just begging to be clicked on, which says "Get VPN."
So, you click it and… nothing.
See, the button actually has a broken link,
and it doesn't take you to a billing page or any page for that matter. The
only working links on the EarthVPN website are the "About" and "Privacy Policy" pages.
The only information EarthVPN provides is that it's apparently a service that's "totally free"
with "unlimited data" and "global server locations."
Except - there's no link to see a list of server locations.
Honestly, this whole thing is just pretty hilarious. Whatever company is behind
EarthVPN forgot to provide users with a link to use the service.
And it doesn't seem like they're keen to add one anytime soon.
I don’t even know if I can rank this as a VPN. For sheer comedic value, I’m giving
it 5 stars out of 5. As a service, however, this gets the full -5 stars. Sorry EarthVPN.
Case No. 5: Betternet VPN
We're ending things off with another hugely popular VPN service. Betternet
VPN has over 50 million downloads across multiple platforms and has
a solid 4.2-star rating on the Google Play Store. Overall, it seems pretty inoffensive.
Unfortunately, Betternet VPN is also owned
by the Aura group, and… yeah. I don't think I need to spell it out,
but I'm going to anyway. Aura's privacy policies permit Betternet to log your data.
And because it's a free service, it may sell that data to third parties. Bummer. -5 stars out of 5.
And… that's the list.
AFTER WATCHING THIS VIDEO, the VPN world may seem pretty dystopian, but I promise you
it isn't hopeless. There are plenty of great VPNs out there, including NordVPN (sponsor me, please)
and Surfshark, links for which you can find in the description below. Both of them offer pretty
reasonable prices, along with total anonymity. You know, the thing people use VPNs for.
Anyway, that's all from my side. I was hoping you could tune in next time to see what dirty
VPN secrets I uncover next. If you liked this video, be sure to hit the like button,
and if you’re keen on seeing more of my beautiful face, subscribe to stay notified.
I've been Josh, and you've been amazing. Cheers.