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Life & fun · June 20, 2013

RT

Responding to NSA spying with a simple consumer VPN service

The NSA metadata gathering and passive monitoring is quite upsetting, and we don't have much confidence in legal changes happening quickly, so we put together a really simple consumer VPN service. We're still cleaning up the UI and making the install process easier, but it should work for people now. Yes, it's based in the US, but there's a big difference between "will turn over data proactively" and "will push back on requests to the fullest extent of the law". Since we don't fall under CALEA, there's no requirement for us to have any monitoring infrastructure. We're focusing on the mobile…

Responding to NSA spying with a simple consumer VPN service launched on June 20, 2013 with 65 votes, #26 of 476 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches.

Alternativestop 5% of June 2013

In plain words

This VPN service encrypts consumer internet traffic to protect against passive monitoring and metadata collection. Designed for iOS and Android users who want a straightforward way to secure their mobile connections, it emphasizes simplicity in installation and use. The US-based service does not proactively share data and lacks monitoring infrastructure, distinguishing it from providers with different compliance obligations. The product was still in active development with ongoing UI refinements at launch.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

In the maker’s words, at launch

The NSA metadata gathering and passive monitoring is quite upsetting, and we don't have much confidence in legal changes happening quickly, so we put together a really simple consumer VPN service. We're still cleaning up the UI and making the install process easier, but it should work for people now. Yes, it's based…

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