Opera Adds Free VPN-Client With Unlimited Usage To Its Desktop Browser

On Thursday, Opera announced that it is adding a free built-in virtual private network (VPN) client to its desktop browser. The feature, which isn't available on other popular Web browsers, will allow users to hide their IP address, unblock firewalls and access region-locked content. It will also help users protect their personal information on public Wi-Fi networks as it offers 256-bit encryption. "Everyone deserves to be private online if they want to be," Krystian Kolondra, SVP at Opera told Slashdot in a statement. "By adding a free, unlimited VPN directly into the browser, no additional download or extensions from an unknown third-party provider are necessary."

The move comes a year after Opera acquired North American VPN company SurfEasy. Unlike Chrome and Firefox, which require you to use an additional third-party tool (such as an extension), Opera's VPN offering is baked in the browser. What's more, it is free and offers unlimited usage. The feature is available on Opera's Mac, Windows, and Linux clients.

Comments

Sorry, still nope

[Anrego]

Opera is still (and will probably always be) that weird guy no one really likes but few have specific complaints about.

Personally I'm strongly debating switching to chromium because firefox has gone to shit and palemoon doesn't look long for this world unfortunately. I never even considered opera, but despite this reminder that they are still around and despite my admission that I don't really have anything specific against them, I'm still not going to.

No, Thank You

[Anonymous Coward]

Now that Opera is going to be owned by the Chinese, they cannot offer anything compelling. No, thank you. No one in their right mind will ever trust the Chinese. Opera is not open source, and because the Chinese company that is buying Opera has close ties to the Chinese government, you cannot expect any privacy whatsoever. Simply put, Opera is, IMHO, no longer a real option to those concerned with privacy.

Re:No, Thank You

[Anonymous Coward]

> Chinese company that is buying Opera has close ties to the Chinese government,

That's just FUD. If you read anything about the companies that make up the consortium (it wasn't just one China based company) that bought the Opera properties, you see they are just capitalistic as any other multinational corporations. Mergers, acquisitions, venture capital groups, monopoly lawsuits, investors, high finance, etc. are all part of the Asian megacorps that are emerging from China. Besides, I can't believe after the surveillance state rant bait that's posted daily here on slashdot, that anyone would trust US companies (or European or Israeli ones) to not spy on their users. Just because Apple and Microsoft now have decided to go for the positive PR by making a show of fighting the Feds after decades of gleefully cooperating with them at the expense of their customers privacy, suddenly that makes them all more trustworthy? Pshaw.

Like HolaVPN and Zenmate?

[LichtSpektren]

No thanks. Most "free" VPNs are well-publicized to data farm you in exchange for being free (a la Windows 10). If you actually want quality and privacy, you have to pay for it. My preference is AirVPN but there's other good ones out there.

Re:Like HolaVPN and Zenmate?

[blackomegax]

Fact of life: if you aren't paying for something, YOU are the product.

A lot of people don't care

[aepervius]

I really don't care for example that they catch that I am trying to watch the daily show from germany or the rare few video which tells me "GEMA blocked blahblah youtube license not apid wahhwahhwambulance"