Popular messaging app WeChat recently updated its privacy policy to let users know that it logs and shares private user information with the Chinese Government. While the latest update to WeChat’s privacy policy is no surprise, it does explicitly confirm what we’ve all assumed to be true all along.

The scope of data collection covers anything WeChat collects including identity information, credit card information, chat history, phone numbers, biometric information (voice, fingerprint, etc) and more. It would be safe to assume that all versions of WeChat is subjected to the same level of scrutiny.

WeChat’s new privacy policy complies with the [...]

Internet security has become one of the most prevalent issues in the past few years and while not as popular as it should be, one of the best ways to stay safe online is to use a VPN service. In this article, we’ll discuss what a VPN is, why you need a VPN service, and how to choose a good VPN provider.

 

What is a VPN

A VPN is an acronym for Virtual Private Network. As its name implies, VPNs were originally designed primarily to allow users to connect computers in different locations onto the same “virtual” private network. At first, corporations adopted VPN technology to allow its employees to use a shared drive or an intranet service [...]

Welcome back to the second installment in our new series of VPN reviews. Last week we reviewed KeepSolid’s VPN Unlimited and this week we’ll be reviewing NordVPN.

NordVPN is a Panama-based VPN service founded back in 2012. The service is extremely well reviewed, has one of the largest selections of servers around the world and is reasonably priced, but should you sign up for the service? Let’s find out!

 

The Basics VPN Service NordVPN Servers 1085 Locations 61 Protocols L2TP, PPTP, OpenVPN TCP, OpenVPN UDP Maximum Devices 6 Auto-Connect Yes Kill-Switch Yes DNS Leak Protection Yes Logging Policy No [...]

For those who use the internet in any way, having a VPN service is essential. VPN services not only help protect your security online, but can also help you get around government censorship, geo-restricted content filters, and ISP traffic shaping.

As a part of a new series of VPN reviews, today we’ll be reviewing VPN Unlimited by KeepSolid. KeepSolid VPN Unlimited is a New York based VPN service with development teams in Ukraine founded back in 2013. The service is well reviewed, offers lots of servers around the globe, and is reasonably priced, but does it live up to its expectations? Let’s find out!

 

The Basics VPN Service KeepSolid [...]

In this day and age of hackers, government spying, and Nazi ISPs putting down arbitrary rules on who gets full speed to view which service, having a VPN service is by far one of the most important things to have for anyone on the internet.

While I’m sure we would all run VPNs if we had the choice, the problem with VPNs is that it costs money. At the end of the day, VPN provider needs to pay for bandwidth, servers and technicians to run the VPN server. While the costs for a decent VPN service are generally under $15 per month, paying for a VPN is a bit like paying for insurance. You just don’t really want to do it until it’s too late.

Lucky for you, [...]

Have you ever wondered why every time after your girlfriend uses your PC for just a couple minutes that somehow all the ads now try to convince you that Huggies diapers are far superior to Pampers? Well, the reason for this is because Google and other major search engines have sophisticated tracking mechanisms that track your online activity, logs your IP addresses, and even share the information with Government agencies such as the NSA.

For an idea of how comprehensive your search histories are, just simply check out your Google Activity Log and be impressed with just how much Google knows about you. It even rembers that search “you” made earlier which [...]

It’s an unfortunate yet inescapable fact of life that if you’re on the internet, chances are you’re being monitored in some way shape or form. While many websites have made the transition to HTTPS which has greatly improved security, HTTPS still allows anyone snooping around such as hackers, your ISP and the government to identify which websites you’ve visited as well as look at any content that isn’t secured by HTTPS.

The best way to improve security a bit further is to use a VPN, or Virtual Private Network. VPNs act as your proxies online and encrypts the data between you and the VPN to ensure that even if your connection was being [...]

Back in 2013, privacy and encryption was thrust into the forefront of mainstream news when NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, leaked a huge repository of classified materials to the press, revealing a lot of very unnerving information about the NSA’s global surveillance programs. Among what was revealed included the NSA’s capability to monitor the online activities of US citizens which include everything from browsing activity to phone calls to e-mails to text messages and much, much more.

While government spying may be worrisome, what should be even more worrisome is the fact that unencrypted transmissions can literally be deciphered by anyone [...]

Last week, Microsoft held a major event in Shanghai, China where the big news of the day was the release of the new Surface Pro. However, that’s not all that was revealed. During the event, Microsoft also revealed that they’re releasing Windows 10 China Government Edition, a custom version of Windows 10 designed specifically for the Chinese government.

The new version of the Windows 10 operating system was designed after two years of cooperation between Microsoft and the Chinese government. Based on Windows 10 Enterprise Edition, the Windows 10 China Government Edition allows additional functionality such as the ability to use your own encryption, control [...]

Bose wireless headphones are great for music, but are they also great for spying on you as well? Apparently so.

According to a class action lawsuit complaint filed by Kyle Zak, Bose has been “secretly collecting, transmitting, and disclosing its customers’ private music and audio selections to third parties, including a data mining company”.

The lawsuit claims that user data is being collected through the “Bose Connect” mobile app, an optional mobile app which provides users with access to some exclusive features for owners of Bose headphones. However, the download seems to unlock more than just features for the user as it also [...]