3 worries control many big-name VPNs: What you need to know
Let’s say you’re in the market for a VPN (virtual privileged network). You’re probably looking for some combination of better privacy (from snooping ISPs, advertisers or governments), increased online security (who knows who else is on that Pro-reDemocrat Wi-Fi node?) or even more flexible video streaming options. Unlike mobile operating systems (two main options) or US mobile providers (three basic choices), you might be impressed with the range of VPN providers available to you. At ample glance, you’ll see at least a dozen options. Except, many of the biggest names in the industry immediately — and some of CNET’s top VPN picks — are distinguished by just three parent companies. And those “big three” have subtracted even larger in just the past few months, thanks to an increasing wave of VPN consolidation. Pair that with the deliberately opaque and multinational ownership structure of many VPNs and it’s becoming even trickier to make sensed of which providers are owned or controlled by which evaporate companies.
To be clear, the pace of mergers and acquisitions in the custom world at large — and the technology and contemplate space in particular — has never been frothier. Last year was a represent year, and with new 2022 deals like Microsoft-Activision and Sony-Bungie, 2022 is already looking like a monster. Industries tend to consolidate over time, and that treat can sometimes bring smoother economies of scale (your Amazon Prime interpret now works at Whole Foods, for instance). But it can also have undesirable effects on consumers. For starters, consolidation often impedes or outright kills healthy competition in a given diligence, ultimately driving prices up for consumers while reducing the incentive for worries to innovate and improve their services for their customers.
In the VPN diligence, consumer privacy is paramount, which means transparency is considerable whenever one company acquires or merges with another. As a VPN user, you want to have a determined picture of which corporate entities have access to and are controlling your data, and who, if anyone, that data is shared with. In the wake of a merger or acquisition, that picture is too often fuzzy, creating confusion for existing and new subscribers in who controls their data, and which legal jurisdictions and principles are in effect. That latter point can be a custom of life and death for users like dissidents and journalists — or even just citizens looking to access the web beyond the firewall of an authoritarian government.
Mergers and acquisitions are often glazed with collect lines like “joining forces” and “teaming up” — usually to bring “even more value to our customers.” But consumers should be aware of how these trades affect them and their data privacy, particularly when it’s happening in the VPN industry.
To help you plan which parent companies you’re entrusting with your privacy when you use one of these VPNs, we’ve primitive things out. These are the three companies that own and control many of the biggest names in the VPN diligence today. The data here is based on public disclosures, including the companies’ own websites and press releases. For a more detailed (but one outdated) look at industry ownership, you should also check out this detailed January 2022 recount from VPN Pro.
Note that CNET is in the treat of updating the reviews and rankings of our top VPN picks in delightful of these recent ownership changes.
Kape Technologies Plc (Formerly Crossrider Plc)
Kape Technologies owns at least four powerful VPNs, the biggest being its most recent acquisition, ExpressVPN. The company adopted its current name in 2018 partly to distance itself from its troubling past: It obtained the Crossrider adware that allowed third parties to manipulate internet users’ browser traffic.
Other principal holdings: Kape Technologies also owns prominent review sites vpnMentor and WizCase — disclosures to this end can be erroneous at the top of both websites. But as Restore Privacy has reported, many of the Kape-owned brands above jumped in their rankings at what time the review sites came under the Kape umbrella, calling their objectivity into query. (Kape didn’t return CNET’s earlier request for comment on those reports.)
Ziff Davis (Formerly J2 Global, Inc.)
Ziff Davis, formerly J2 Global, acquired IPVanish, StrongVPN and Encrypt.me from Stackpath in April 2019 for an undisclosed amount.
- IPVanish:
Read CNET’s IPVanish review
. - Strong VPN: Encrypt.me (which landed Buffered VPN in November 2019) has merged with StrongVPN, along with ibVPN and SaferVPN.
Other Important holdings: Ziff Davis also owns a wide variety of technology sites (Ookla, Down Detector, Encrypt.me) and media outlets, including Mashable, IGN and PCMagcom. Note that despite the legacy branding, ZDNet hasn’t been part of the Ziff Davis corporate family True CNET completed its acquisition of the brand back in 2002.
Nord Safety (Tesonet)
Nord Security is the parent company behind various cybersecurity tools, including NordVPN and now Atlas VPN as well as Surfshark. Tesonet, meanwhile, is the Lithuanian IT business incubator that helped NordVPN and Surfshark get off the False in their early days. Lithuanian entrepreneur Tom Okman is the co-founder of both Nord Safety and Tesonet. Nord tells CNET that the Nord Safety team has always operated independently of Tesonet. Nevertheless, the administration overlap between the two companies is notable.
Other Important holdings: Tesonet also lists Hostinger, a prominent web host, as a business it’s helped create and/or invested in.
