https://www.ivpn.net/blog/gradual-removal-of-port-forwarding
unlikely that we bring it back
ExpressVPN collects more personal info and generally have less restrictive privacy related choices (ads, trackers, information collection in app etc). We are more comparable to Mullvad, similar policies, similar philosophy. Pros - Some of our customers like our apps better. We sponsor Bitcoin projects like BTCPay and attend Bitcoin conferences throughout the year. We accept Lightning payments directly. Mullvad has more servers in more locations and offer stuff we don't like DAITA. IVPN is more expensive if you need more than 2 devices.
We have identified a potential leak issue affecting our iOS app in brief intervals during WireGuard key regeneration. We advise IVPN customers using the IVPN iOS app to update to the latest version (v2.12.5) as soon as possible. Details: https://www.ivpn.net/blog/key-rotation-issue-fix-in-ivpn-ios-app/
Last year, we laid down the groundwork for new projects to help people better resist online surveillance.
In addition to major infrastructure upgrades and planned app improvements, we are preparing to launch new services this year.
Details on our blog: https://www.ivpn.net/blog/ivpn-year-in-review-plans-for-2025/
IVPN acquires Safing, operator of Portmaster and the SPN network - details on our blog: https://www.ivpn.net/blog/ivpn-acquires-safing-portmaster-spn-network/
Over the past five weeks we have upgraded 11 previously WireGuard-only gateways to support other protocols.
List of locations where additional servers are now accepting OpenVPN and IKEv2 connections:
Amsterdam - nl2.gw.ivpn.net
Atlanta - us-ga3.gw.ivpn.net
Chicago - us-il3.gw.ivpn.net
Dallas - us-tx3.wg.ivpn.net
Frankfurt - de4.gw.ivpn.net
London - gb3.gw.ivpn.net
Los Angeles - us-ca5.gw.ivpn.net
Montreal - ca-qc1.gw.ivpn.net
New York - us-ny4.gw.ivpn.net
Singapore - sg2.gw.ivpn.net
Stockholm - se2.gw.ivpn.net
Complete list of gateways available here: https://www.ivpn.net/en/status/
We looked into this previously and made steps towards running a fedimint federation. Operational risks + second order effects (eg. accounting) are tricky. We'd like to make it happen, but can't say when.
Cash payments for a digital service sounds insane to some when I mention it in person.
It's an operational hassle for the provider, but should be normalized, adopted and preferred by customers of privacy services.
#normalizecash (yes, this is the first - probably the last - hashtag we ever used on socials)
Why you shouldn't pay with credit card or PayPal for a VPN service
Payment methods that support anonymity can help keep your service account (e.g., your randomly generated IVPN Account ID) separate from your personal information tied to CC/Paypal. When paying with cash, Lightning, or XMR a trustworthy VPN provider only sees your IP address, with no ability to link it to revealing payment details. If the provider has no identifying data, they can't misuse it, leak it or share it with third parties.
Paying with a credit card or PayPal exposes personally identifiable information to the service provider. Further, the payment gateway and each participants in the payment processing chain can learn you are using that specific provider. In the event of a leak, official request, or compromise, your use of the VPN service could be tied to you personally, and in the worst case your activities could be directly correlated to you as well.
The above also highlights why you should use providers that don't require an email or other personal information to sign up and accept anonymity-friendly payment methods without an third-party.
Should all of this matter to you?
As we often remark, it all comes down to your personal threat model. What information you want to protect? Who are the adversaries?
If you occasionally use a VPN to watch BBC iPlayer and you trust your provider, the risks are minimal. If you are concerned about potential compromise, or you might be at threat if your personal information is correlated to your activities, it's better to minimize the amount of information you (are required to) share.
This should be now fixed. We have not considered that the nostr.json is queried with parameters ie. ?name=nostr so had to disable www redirect for /nostr.json*. Please let us know if our account shows up as unverified in any Nostr client. Thanks!
These checks are doable in any network scenario, they were created for universal usage. These guides also include checking for proper obfuscation implementation (obfs and v2ray), which is specifically helpful in restrictive environments like China. Of course Chinese firewall conditions might prevent you to progress at certain steps. On the other hand, our key focus with IVPN is not censorship circumvention that's why we don't manually test/QA from within China.
We'll look into it, thanks for the note!
A privacy guide series we recently wrapped up details the steps for self-auditing your VPN.
It's a fairly technical series, but if you rely on a commercial VPN for privacy - no matter the provider - we recommend taking the time to work through these steps. That will help you verify that your VPN connection is working as intended, there are no leaks, and that your provider implemented important features like firewall and forward secrecy properly.
In part one, we cover the initial setup, including installing WireShark for packet capture and analysis. You'll also learn to gather necessary details on your VPN's server, protocol, and port: https://www.ivpn.net/privacy-guides/self-audit-series-part1/
In part two, we show how to verify the details of a WireGuard VPN connection, including checking for leaks. This guide includes verification of v2Ray obfuscation and post-quantum resistant encryption: https://www.ivpn.net/privacy-guides/self-audit-series-part2/
Part three we do the same for OpenVPN and also discuss checking firewall effectiveness and perfect forward secrecy implementation: https://www.ivpn.net/privacy-guides/self-audit-series-part3/
Have you gone through these guides and have feedback or questions? You know what to do.
We'll be at Bitcoin Amsterdam on Wednesday and Thursday bearing gifts.
If you are attending and spot someone in this jacket -> don't be a stranger.
Thanks. Can you create multiple channels within your group?
Let's assume we have some product ideas for IVPN customers to test, invite-only.
We start a chat community to get feedback and offer a place to discuss our service, privacy etc.
Which platform would you prefer?
- Needs to support multiple channels
- Ideally self-hosted
- Discord and Telegram are no-go due to privacy policies
Options:
- Matrix
- IRC
- Nostr based solution which we have not heard about
- Something else
Create and find opportunities that don't require these platforms. Build for people who explicitly reject the corporate surveillance status quo. They exist and they are not going to take it anymore. We can confirm - we talk to them every day. Opt out.