Iran officials linked to Canada-based free VPN provider
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You probably already know that with one of the best VPN services, you can secure your online anonymity while bypassing internet restrictions.
What you might not expect is that the government of a country like Iran, where a new draconian internet law will further curtail online freedoms and criminalize software circumvention, is somehow connected to a foreign VPN provider. .
That’s why accusations that Hamid Rezazadeh – son of Vice President for Women and Family Ensieh Khazali – behind the Vancouver-based Betternet VPN has raised a lot of concerns both at home and in the global VPN industry.
The Iran VPN Saga
The controversial link between Iranian officials and the Canada-based free VPN software came to light when the Swiss-based Iranian journalist Abdollah Abdic (opens in new tab) released a lengthy thread where he shared incriminating evidence on his social media pages.
Ensieh Khazali’s response was not long in coming. In a series of tweets (opens in new tab)she dismissed such allegations, explaining that his son is actually in Canada on a temporary trip focused on “knowledge-based” research.
However, it wasn’t difficult for Iranian social media users to dig deeper into the story by finding the Rezazadeh’s profile on the professional website Rocketreach. This clearly describes him as the software manager, chief executive officer and founder of Betternet VPN.
Despite the post now disappearing from the site, the vice president’s brother, Mehdi Khazali, confirmed the truth of such allegations.
“He closed his company in Iran and moved to Canada, where he founded another company that is active in VPNs,” he told RFE/RL (opens in new tab).
رحالی سرکار خانم خزعلی به دروغ ادعا کردن که پسرشان برای سفر کوتاه کاری به کانادا رفته است که ایشان درکانادا تولید وی پی ان ان VPN زده است!همین کارو من جرجندی بکنم میشم جاسوس و بی پدر مادر و مجرم امنیتی !یه نکته دیگه هم داره.. 1/3 https://t.co/sIcixPilOF pic.twitter.com/A7uiCq1GtgSeptember 8, 2022
With the Iranian government’s strict stance on the use of VPN services and online freedoms, calls for Ensieh Khazali to step down from her official role inevitably follow.
The story has also sparked resentment around what Iran called aghazadehs. This describes the hypocrisy surrounding government figures who, although they strongly criticize the West at home, still send their children there to study and work.
In addition, Canada and Iran have been in a conflicted relationship since 2012, and the North American country refuses to grant visas to many Iranian citizens.
Is Betternet VPN safe to use?
Whether or not there is a malicious intent to collect sensitive data from users behind the controversial Iranian ownership of Betternet is impossible to determine. What is undeniable is that the software is not known as the most secure VPN on the market.
Despite being a popular freebie – it has been downloaded over 50 million times on Google Play alone – a research report 2016 (opens in new tab) discovered the presence of malware and tracking libraries embedded in the Betternet Android app.
Betternet LLC Inc. is registered in California. And the US along with Canada are two of the founders of the intelligence-sharing alliance known as the Five Eyes. That’s probably not the best news for those looking to secure their data from government prying eyes.
In terms of ownership, Betternet is part of the Pango group that was bought by digital security firm Aura last year. The parent company also owns other VPN providers such as Ultra VPN and Hotspot Shield. It’s worth noting that the latter made headlines a few years ago after allegations of misuse of VPN users’ data.
Watching the Betternet privacy policy (opens in new tab) it also became apparent that Aura collects tons of user information. These include approximate geographic location and ISP to share with third parties, device-specific information, and up to three years of VPN connection timestamps.
TechRadar cybersecurity specialist Mike Williams was also unimpressed when he reviewed the premium version of Betternet VPN.
He concluded: “Betternet is a fast VPN and very easy to use, but the lack of features, multiple privacy issues and bad unblocking results are real problems.”