A Proton investigation analyzed over 7,000 VPN applications worldwide and found that 85% of VPNs available to US users contain trackers capable of collecting and sharing personal information—including device ID, device model, network type, and carrier details. In 64 cases, the surveillance goes further: these apps actively monitor physical location using GPS and geolocation data.
The research reveals a deeper problem: 64 of the 390 most-downloaded VPNs in the Apple App Store and Google Play are owned by Chinese companies. Chinese law can require these companies to hand user data to the government upon request. Even more concerning, 31 of these Chinese-owned VPNs hide their true ownership structure behind shell companies registered in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UK, making it nearly impossible for users to discover who actually controls the service routing their traffic. These suspicious apps alone accumulated over 3 million downloads in just one month.
Installing a VPN does not automatically guarantee privacy. When choosing a VPN, verify who develops it, where the company is registered, review its privacy policy, and confirm whether the service has undergone independent security audits. Your entire internet traffic flows through the VPN provider's servers, making this choice a critical security decision that deserves careful scrutiny.