ProtonVPN Applications are Now 100% Open Source

Brief: ProtonVPN becomes the first VPN provider to open source its client applications and undergo an independent security audit.

In this age of surveillance, VPNs have become a powerful tool in safeguarding your privacy.

But can you trust your VPN service provider? On more than one occasion, the VPN providers have been caught logging, snooping or sharing data with third party. What to do in such cases?

I have shared a list of privacy focused VPNs for Linux in the past and ProtonVPN is one of them. The good news is that ProtonVPN has just open sourced all its apps and underwent an independent security audit.

ProtonVPN open sources its applications

Swiss-based company Proton is run by CERN scientists. Their secure email service ProtonMail is hugely popular among privacy enthusiasts. It is used by over 20 million people worldwide.

Proton has always put its focus on security and transparency. They have a strict no logging policy for their VPN services even for the free version.

To ensure their commitment, they worked with renowned security firm SEC Consult on a full security audit, which verified the security of Proton’s software.

Transparency is again the motive behind releasing ProtonVPN applications’s source code under open source license.

By open sourcing all of its client code, ProtonVPN is allowing security experts from around the world to inspect its encryption implementations and how the company handles user data, giving users more confidence the company is adhering to its strict privacy policy.

VPN services can technically access some very sensitive user data, which is why users should choose services with a track record for transparency and security. This trust must be earned, and by publishing our code, we hope to demonstrate our commitment towards always going above and beyond when it comes to security and putting users first.

Dr. Andy Yen
CEO and Founder, Proton

Getting ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN has clients for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux. You can get the source code for the clients on their GitHub repository.

If you like what ProtonVPN is doing and want to support them while securing your privacy, you may opt for their service.

There is a limited free offering from ProtonVPN but the premium version offers more features like high speed servers, multiple VPN connections, servers in more countries.

You can get 20% off on ProtonVPN annual offer and 33% off on their two-year plan. More details can be found on their website.

It’s FOSS is an affiliate partner with Proton. Please read our affiliate policy.

Your thoughts

I like when companies show their commitment to transparency and openness. Protonmail has done it in the past and they have done it again.

German-based Tutanota is another privacy-oriented service that I highly recommend. Unfortunately, they don’t offer VPN service yet.

Do you use ProtonMail or ProtonVPN? How is your experience with Proton services? By going open source, do you trust them more? Do share your views in the comment section.

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