The Tech Transparency Project (TTP) raises alarms about VPN apps owned by Chinese companies available in Apple and Google app stores, revealing risks to American privacy and national security. Despite identifying these apps over six weeks ago, no action has been observed from the tech giants. TTP's report states that 20 out of the 100 free VPNs in the Apple App Store exhibit signs of Chinese ownership, raising concerns that sensitive user data may be shared with the Chinese government. Security experts warn about the potential misuse of these VPNs, highlighting their history of embedding code that can exploit user devices.
These threats are not entirely new. Free mobile apps have a history of embedding code that connects the user's device to a proxy network to generate revenue by selling off a small amount of the user bandwidth.
In an age where identity is the new perimeter, these free VPN services may not only process sensitive browsing data through foreign servers, they can also create large peer-to-peer networks.
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