Iran officials linked to Canada-based free VPN provider
Vice President’s son appears to be the founder of Betternet VPN
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Edit: A spokesperson of Aura, Betternet’s parent company, contacted the editor after this story’s release saying: “Contrary to recent media reports, there is not currently, nor has there ever been, an employee by the name of Hamid Rezazadeh at BetterNet or The Pango Group.”
On September 16, also Pango Group released an official statement denying Rezazadeh’s involvement within the company. “Hamid Rezazadeh does not work for Betternet. The company he founded was acquired in 2016 and he has had no affiliation with the company or its technology since. He has never been an employee of Pango Group.”
You probably already know that with one of thebest VPNservices 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 newdraconian internet lawwill further reduce online freedoms and criminalize circumventing software, is somehow linked with an overseasVPNprovider.
That’s why allegations that Hamid Rezazadeh - son of Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Ensieh Khazali - is behind the Vancouver-based Betternet VPN have sparked many concerns, both at home and across the global VPN sector.
The Iran VPN saga
The controversial link between Iranian officials and the Canada-basedfree VPNsoftware came to light when Swiss-based Iranian journalistAbdollah Abdireleased a long thread where he shared incriminating evidence on his social media pages.
Ensieh Khazali’s response was not long in coming. In aseries of tweets, she rejected such allegations, explaining that his son is actually in Canada for a temporary trip aimed at “knowledge-based” research.
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However, it wasn’t difficult for Iranian social media users to get 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 ofBetternet VPN.
Despite the post now disappearing from the site, the vice president’s brother Mehdi Khazali confirmed the truthfulness of such accusations.
“He closed his company in Iran and moved to Canada where he created another company that is active in the field of VPNs,” he told toRFE/RL.
رحالی سرکار خانم انسیه خزعلی به دروغ ادعا کردن که پسرشان برای سفر کوتاه کاری به کانادا رفته است که پسر گل ایشان درکانادا شرکت تولید وی پی ان VPN زده است!همین کارو من جرجندی بکنم میشم جاسوس و بی پدر مادر و مجرم امنیتی!یه نکته مهم 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 liberties, calls for Ensieh Khazali to resign from her official role inevitably follow suit.
The story has also lead to resentments around what Iranian calledaghazadehs.This describes the hypocrisy around governmental figures who, while strongly criticizing the West at home, still send their children to study and work there.
What’s more, Canada and Iran have been in a conflictual relationship since 2012, and the North American country has been refusing to grant visas to many Iranian citizens.
Is Betternet VPN safe to use?
Whether or not a malicious intent to harvest users' sensitive data lies behind Betternet’s controversial Iranian ownership exists is impossible to ascertain. What’s undeniable is that its software is not famous for being the mostsecure VPNon the market.
Despite being a popular freebie - it has been downloaded more than 50 million times onGoogle Playalone - a2016 research reportdiscovered the presence ofmalwareand tracking libraries embedded in Betternet Android app.
Free Chinese VPN exposed millions of users' data>Are VPNs really safe? How to check your service’s security>Our pick of the best free VPN providers around right now
Betternet LLC Inc. is registered in California. And, the US together with Canada are two of the founders of the intelligence-sharing alliance known as theFive Eyes. That’s not probably 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 which was bought last year by digital security firmAura. The parental company also owns other VPN providers likeUltra VPNandHotspot Shield. It is worth noting that the latter made headlines a few years ago followingallegations of abusing VPN users’ data.
Looking at the Betternetprivacy policyit also became clear that Aura collects tons of users' information. These include approximate geographical 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 wasn’t impressed either, when he reviewed theBetternet VPN premiumversion.
He concluded: “Betternet is a fast VPN and very easy to use, but thelack of features, multiple privacy concerns and poor unblocking results are real problems.”
Chiara is a multimedia journalist committed to covering stories to help promote the rights and denounce the abuses of the digital side of life—wherever cybersecurity, markets and politics tangle up.She mainly writes news, interviews and analysis on data privacy, online censorship, digital rights, cybercrime, and security software, with a special focus on VPNs, for TechRadar Pro, TechRadar and Tom’s Guide. Got a story, tip-off or something tech-interesting to say? Reach out to chiara.castro@futurenet.com
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