IPVanish, one of the best VPNs on the market, has launched a new initiative to help those in restrictive countries subjected to government censorship and surveillance.
The new program, called IPVanish Emergency VPN, offers a 3-month IPVanish subscription to journalists and other individuals dealing with various online restrictions, relief efforts, political instability, or turmoil.
“Increasingly, citizens around the world are being silenced for fighting against oppression, which stands in stark contrast to IPVanish’s commitment to a free and open internet. We’re proud to offer this tool to protect users’ communications and maintain privacy when sharing information online,” said IPVanish’s VP of customer success Doug Haden.
To access the service, users need to submit a support request along with their name, country of residence, and social media handle or other credentials to verify their identity. They’ll also have to provide a short explanation of why they need IPVanish Emergency VPN.
“We need this information to protect the program from abuse and, as a U.S. company, remain compliant with embargo restrictions. This means we may not be able to provide services to users in certain countries or regions,” the company explains in a blog post.
Eligible users will gain full access to all IPVanish’s VPN service, which is a very secure and private VPN. Once users connect to any of its 2,200+ servers in 56 countries, IPVanish hides their location, making it appear as though they are accessing the internet from a different region.
The VPN uses end-to-end bank-grade encryption, ensuring governments, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and other third parties cannot read users’ traffic. It maintains a strict no-logs policy, too, so it doesn’t view or collect any user data, and therefore, can’t share it even if a government requests it.
IPVanish also uses its Scramble feature to disguise VPN traffic, making it resemble regular internet traffic. This makes it less likely for governments that block VPNs to detect and block its users from going online while connected to the VPN.
Finally, the VPN provider allows unlimited connections, meaning users can install and connect to it on as many devices as they need.
“As founding members of the VPN Trust Initiative and longtime supporters of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the U.S. National Cybersecurity Alliance in the fight against censorship and surveillance, IPVanish is proud to support individuals and organizations advocating for online privacy and internet freedom,” said Subbu Sthanu, chief commercial officer at IPVanish in a statement.
“We recognize that privacy isn’t just a convenience for some; it’s a requirement to maintain their safety. We’re proud to provide free Emergency VPN access to those helping to distribute vital information,” he added.
To find out more about what IPVanish offers, read our full review here.