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Are VPNs legal in Australia?

Are VPNs legal in Australia? Yes, they are. There’s no specific legislation in place that bans the use of VPNs within the country. However, it’s important to note that using a VPN doesn’t grant legal immunity. Any activity that is considered illegal without a VPN remains illegal when utilizing one, such as copyright infringement through accessing overseas streaming services. Additionally, keep in mind that legislation around this topic is continually evolving.

Furthermore, some Australian government departments even advocate for the use of VPNs, particularly for business applications. They offer comprehensive guidelines on how to use VPNs in a business setting in a legally compliant manner. This support underscores the accepted and legitimate role VPNs can play in enhancing online security and privacy.

However, while VPN use is legal, it is not beyond scrutiny. The Assistance and Access Bill of 2018 has implications for the general landscape of online privacy in Australia. This legislation requires technology and telecommunications providers to create a “back-door” to their services, effectively allowing government agencies access to encrypted communications. This stipulation raises concerns about the potential weakening of encryption standards and the associated risks of becoming a global weak point in terms of data security.

As it relates to VPNs, most reputable providers adhere to a strict no-logging policy, which means that they do not store user data. This policy significantly reduces the risk of data being handed over to government agencies, even if requested. For instance, NordVPN’s No-Logging Policy has been audited and verified by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, Zurich, Switzerland.

It’s also worth mentioning that many VPN providers are based in countries with stringent privacy laws, offering them a degree of protection from such requests. Even though the Assistance and Access Bill could technically extend to foreign companies with Australian subsidiaries, it’s unclear how this would play out, as we are not aware of any major VPN provider with operations in Australia.

In conclusion, while the legality of VPN use in Australia is clear, the landscape is dynamic due to evolving legislation and considerations around online privacy and security. At present, Australians can legally use VPNs, provided they are used for legal activities. As always, users should stay informed about changes in the legal landscape to ensure ongoing compliance.

Disclaimer: This article should not be interpreted as legal advice. It is always recommended to consult with a legal professional for advice related to specific circumstances.

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NordVPN ends 7-day free trial citing scammer abuse

22 May 2019

One of our top rated VPN providers for Australians, NordVPN has terminated their offer of a free 7-day trial. They have cited extensive abuse by scammers which has put severely high loads on NordVPN’s infrastructure. These high loads were presumably affecting services of paying NordVPN customers. This puts NordVPN in line with other major VPN providers who also do not offer a free trial period.

We have previously always recommended making use of NordVPN’s trial period before signing up to ensure that:

  1. Your devices are all compatible with NordVPN’s service
  2. The speeds you are getting from your connection point in Australia are acceptable and;
  3. You are able to access all relevant services that you wish to access via the VPN, this may be torrents, NetFlix or just keeping your IP hidden when using insecure connections.

What about the NordVPN 30-Day Risk Free Money Back Guarantee?

Most consumers take money back guarantees with a grain of salt as it is not uncommon for service providers to make the process quite cumbersome and long-winded. In Australia, we have strong consumer laws to protect us against scrupulous businesses however these do not apply when dealing with businesses domiciled elsewhere. As they say, ‘caveat emptor’ – let the buyer beware.

We are happy to say that we give the tick of approval to NordVPN’s money back guarantee as a genuine guarantee. NordVPN will first try to troubleshoot any issue you have however if you are not 100% satisfied they will refund your money. There are a few things to look out for, however:

  • You must submit a refund request within 30 days of purchase
  • If you have purchased a subscription through iTunes/App Store NordVPN will not be able to directly provide you with a refund. You will have to contact the iTunes store support for a refund and there are no guarantees on a refund being provided.
  • If you have used a prepaid card or gift card you will not be eligible to get a refund under the guarantee
  • NordVPN will not refund any subscriptions that have been purchased from resellers of their service.
  • If you paid using cryptocurrency you will be subject to fluctuations in the value of the cryptocurrency. NordVPN will refund the US dollar value at the rate of exchange at the time of refund

In most cases as long as you have purchased your subscription directly from NordVPN and contact their customer support within 30 days you will receive your money back. NordVPN refunds the entire amount, not a pro-rata amount.

Summary

Despite the 7-day free trial ending, we feel you are adequately protected by the 30-day money back guarantee. Due to the exceptions listed above, we strongly recommend that to you purchase your subscription directly from the NordVPN website if you think you may need to avail of the guarantee. You are also more likely to get the best deal through their website such as their current up to 75% OFF deal.

Read our full NordVPN Review for Australians

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VPN Unlimited Review Australia

General Overview

VPN Unlimited is based in New York and owned by a company called KeepSolid. It is your run of the mill VPN service at first glance and appears to be part of a larger suite of security-centric software. That said it still is a standalone service. So, how does VPN Unlimited measure up against other competing services? Should Australians use it? We answer these and other questions in this review.

Special Features

VPN Unlimited has a few excellent features which are worth considering when in the market for VPN software. We will take a look at a few of these features which we think will be of interest to everyone.

Netflix and Hulu Streaming: Now even though VPN Unlimited does not guarantee Hulu and Netflix streaming across all its servers we found that all servers support it. In addition to streaming Netflix and Hulu successfully, we were able to stream other services like BBC iPlayer.

A large selection of Client Apps: VPN Unlimited has apps for Linux, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android. There are also extensions for FireFox and Chrome. What’s great is the fact that these apps offer a relatively consistent experience across all platforms.

Great Customer Service: You would think that customer service should be a given, but it is unfortunate that many services don’t provide a great experience especially to customers in Australia. VPN Unlimited is different with their excellent customer service which in our experience responds within minutes. While there is no live chat feature, the quality of their ticket and email support is the best in the business. A test ticket we submitted was answered within 10 minutes which is pretty impressive. Though it still does not beat having live chat.

Privacy & Anonymity

VPN Unlimited makes sure that all traffic to and from you, the VPN server and the internet is encrypted using Advanced Encryption Standard or AES. Now for those who don’t know this is the same type of encryption used by various federal agencies when transmitting sensitive information making it the most secure type of encryption in existence today.

Sure many VPN providers already use AES-256 to encrypt data, but there is a reason why we have mentioned this as a possible pro of the service.

The extension we eluded to above was the KeepSolid Wise extension used for the OpenVPN tunneling protocol. The extension makes it near impossible to detect a user. Think of it as a cloak of invisibility.

If you happen to live in a country with an oppressive regime, where your every chat, email and online transaction is monitored this extension will help you bypass it. In Australia, your data is collected by the government and shared with other governments. Being part of the Five Eyes means that Australians can benefit from KeepSolid Wise and slip through the net making their connection to the VPN look like millions of others.

Last but certainly not least is their Kill Switch feature which will cut off data transmission in the event your internet connection is unstable with prevents data leaks.


VPN Unlimited’s Speed and Performance

In terms of connection speed, our tests show that VPN Unlimited is slow compared to the competition. It throttled our internet connection by as much as 23% at least when connecting to servers within Australia. The connection was even slower when we connected to servers in the US (30%) and Asia (40%). That said with 400+ locations in 52 countries you are bound to find a server which works for you but be prepared because it could be slower than you expect.

Ease of use (Desktop and Mobile)

All version of the VPN Unlimited’s client software work the same and are consequently easy to use. When you first launch the software, it is possible to start browsing the internet anonymously with the click of a button. The sidebar allows you to find what you want within minutes.

Despite what many advanced users may think about their simplistic interface for many people it will be welcome. The dashboard makes finding and connecting to a server in any part of the world requiring only a few clicks.

VPN Unlimited’s Servers and Locations in Australia

VPN Unlimited has servers in 400+ locations in 52 countries. While there are a couple of servers in Australia, there is no official figure for the numbers.

Customer Support

VPN Unlimited has excellent customer support. However, their support is limited to just the email/ticket system. Not having live chat like the competition means you can’t chat with a support agent in real time. That said most if not all of our questions were answered within an average span of 10 minutes.

Value for money

Perhaps there is a lot of value for money with the company’s Infinity plan for $149.99. The plan signs you up for an entire lifetime of VPN use without having to pay anything else. So, if you plan on using a VPN for the next couple of years, are on a budget and don’t care if the service logs your internet use then it is very good value for money.

Further value is added with the 7-day money back guarantee. So, you can try out the service and if it’s not something you like ask for your money back.

Our Verdict

Don’t get us wrong VPN Unlimited is a pretty decent service, but we wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. In particular, if you want a VPN that has a zero-logging policy, then this isn’t it. But if you’re looking for something cheap, yet good enough to bypass some government level snooping then it would be a good choice. The only drawback would still be its slow speeds.

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Turbo VPN Review Australia

General Overview

Turbo VPN is arguably one of the most popular free VPN proxy clients available for iOS and Android devices. Over 50 million installs and counting is perhaps proof that this is a service that most people trust and enjoy using. However, the question is how good is this free service? And is access to nine servers across Asia, North America, and Europe enough? In this review, we will answer these and other questions about Turbo VPN.

Special Features

Streaming support: Turbo VPN claims to offer streaming support for various platforms including Netflix and Hulu. During our testing, we were able to stream from YouTube, use BBC iPlayer but Netflix and Hulu didn’t always work. However, when it did work it was only when we were connected to US servers which may be something Australians are comfortable with if they want to consume American content. Plus, there is a specific Netflix server which streams but not without difficulty. It takes a few tries to get connected to Netflix, but the servers don’t work for Hulu unfortunately.

Apps for Android and iOS: Turbo VPN has apps for both Android and iOS. Both apps have the same interfaces, and so they are inherently easy to use.

Free to Use: Perhaps one of the biggest draw for Turbo VPN is it being free. Most people start with a free account and then upgrade if they like the service. Unlike other competing services you know what the service has to offer before paying for it.

Privacy & Anonymity

Turbo VPN does not make any tall claims about its privacy and anonymity abilities, the reason being that they are based in China. So, they indeed maintain logs. According to their privacy policy, the company does collect and store a small amount of information about users.

The company states that they don’t collect information regarding the user’s IP address, the website they are visiting when using Turbo VPN, and a few other bits of information. However, as sticklers for privacy, we have a couple of issues with their privacy policy. For starters, they say that the company collects user statics, i.e. their location and behavior but don’t elaborate on it further. We see this as a justification for logging. Location information is directly tied to an IP address, and so this statement runs contrary to an earlier statement where they state that IP related information is not collected.

Turbo VPN’s Speed and Performance

The speed and performance we experienced was below average. On average Turbo VPN was throttling our internet speeds by 55%. Though we got the best speeds when connecting to a US server. The slowest speeds were observed when we connected to servers in France, Germany, and Netherlands.

Ease of use (Desktop and Mobile)

One of the best things about Turbo VPN is their modern looking app design which is simple to use, aesthetic and overall pretty to look at. Clicking on the symbol on the right opens up a list of all the servers, a flag represents each location. You also see a list of so-called premium locations which is just another way of saying that they are servers you can use if you pay for them. Though you can click on the tab that says “free” and only see a list of free servers.

Clicking on the burger menu brings up the settings. Though there isn’t much here as you’re limited to just choosing whether you want the app to connect upon startup. Other than that there isn’t much to see or do here!

Turbo VPN’s Servers and Locations in Australia

Unfortunately, Turbo VPN does not have Australian servers. After all, you only have access to just nine servers.

Customer Support

Non-existent customer support sums up what you can expect. There is no live chat, or ticket based support system even if you are a paid user. We tried reaching out to the company via their Facebook page. Sent a message, which was seen 24 hours later and still didn’t receive a reply. So, it is fair to say you’ll be reasonably frustrated with the service if you run into issues.

Value for money

Turbo VPN is free for the most part, but the value it offers is nothing compared to the privacy issues with the service. The paid service is a big no! Again mainly because they don’t have any form of customer service and their privacy policy is blatantly conflicting.

Our Verdict

Turbo VPN certainly appears to tick all the right boxes on paper. You get a number of useful features and for no price whatsoever. However, the service is as many suspect feeding off your private information. The fact that their privacy policy is so confusing and contradictory is a red flag in itself. Plus it being based in China is another potential red flag since everyone knows that Chinese businesses are answerable to the Chinese government. Finally, a lack of customer service and slow overall speeds is a huge turn-off. We can’t recommend Turbo VPN to anyone, not even if its free.

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Pure VPN Review Australia

Coupon: Get 74% OFF PureVPN’s 2 year plan

General Overview

PureVPN has been around since as far back and 2007, which why we are not surprised by their claims of having 2000+ VPN servers in 180 locations. In addition, the service claims to offer an array of protocol choices, DNS support, IPv6 leak protection, and torrent support. Other features include a smart kill switch, Bitcoin payment, split tunneling and the ability to connect up to five devices. Though our question and the question many people have asked us is how good is the service in real-world use? That’s exactly what we’ll attempt to answer in this review.

Special Features

Streaming Support: PureVPN makes an extra bit of effort to unblock websites like Netflix and Hulu for Australians. It supports streaming with specific apps which means that you can use the Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu app for instance to stream content. In most cases, the streaming worked perfectly, but there were exceptions like when we tried using the BBC iPlayer app. Besides if one server does not support streaming the content you want, switch to another there are more than enough to go around.

Supports Many Payment Methods: While not a unique feature in itself being able to support numerous payment methods ensures that everyone can use the service. However, what’s interesting is that PureVPN supports paying for the service using Bitcoin, which is a cryptocurrency and can’t be traced to a user. That’s, in addition, to support for Credit Card, Alipay, gift cards, PayPal, etc. in addition to 150 other payment methods via the paymentwall platform.

Dedicated apps for various platforms: Pure VPN has dedicated apps for iOS, Windows, Android, Mac, Linux and even extensions for Firefox and Chrome. It is also possible to install PureVPN on Android TV, Kodi, Firestick and various routers.

Privacy & Anonymity

Privacy and anonymity are one of the biggest concerns for people who use VPNs. PureVPN has over the years made a big deal of their so-called zero logging policy which meant that they didn’t record your online activity. Though the small print always said that they did log some stuff including your connection time, incoming IP address and the bandwidth used.

The company has since addressed this in a blog post saying that it didn’t keep complete logs like browsing history and so they aren’t doing anything in violation of their own privacy policy. However, it does not amount to having zero logs. Plus, many people may not be comfortable with PureVPN logging and storing their real IP address which can be traced back to the ISP and its location which in other words means that their privacy isn’t great. Though it is possible to remain anonymous online when using their service except for perhaps from the authorities.

Pure VPN Speed and Performance

PureVPN may boast of blazing fast connection speeds, but in our experience, they are nothing to brag about. While better than the slowest services they still aren’t amongst the best. On average Australians will see a 20% drop in speed when connecting to a server on the Australian continent like New Zealand. Though the further they go from there the speeds will slow down exponentially. For instance, our connection to the US was 35% slower; Japan was 40% slower. Some European servers didn’t work but those that did slowed down our connection by 45%.

Ease of use (Desktop and Mobile)

PureVPN, for the most part, is easy to use across mobile and desktop devices. Though the mobile version of the software limits users to a handful of features which are just one tap away. On the desktop app though you can drill down into more advanced features and choose things like the encryption algorithm and connection type.

Pure VPN Servers and Locations in Australia

While the company boasts of having over 20 servers in Australia, we could only see 4. Now that could be because those servers were down or maybe because the company removed them and that figure wasn’t updated on the website.

Customer Support

The interesting thing about the support link is that it does not take you to the website but instead opens up a support section from within the client. Here users can open a support ticket. But in most cases, the support isn’t very helpful, but they are certainly polite.

Those in a hurry can use the live chat option on the website. It takes around 5 minutes to connect with a live person. However, most responses were canned and the suggestions weren’t much help beyond reinstalling the software or to download it again. We suspect that like us many users who find themselves needing assistance will be frustrated with the support.

Value for money

PureVPN does offer a pretty long list of features. However, in practice, few of these features can be used. The slow speeds, unhelpful support and the fact that their piracy policy is very elastic lead us to state that they are not providing good value for money.

Our Verdict

PureVPN comes with many powerful features rivaling its highly rated and well-reviewed competition but for a competitive price. However, our experience during the time reviewing the service shows that all of these don’t work as you’d expect it to. There are usability, support and server issues to deal with for the most part. It is perhaps for people who can put up with flexible privacy standards, slow speeds, and low-quality customer service in exchange for a low price. We suspect that most people will cross PureVPN off their list of considerations mainly because they don’t want to deal with the frustration of slow internet speeds.

Visit PureVPN.com

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Best VPN for Chrome in Australia

The number of Australian VPN users has been on a steady rise over the past couple of years. One primary reason for this is that subscribing to premium VPN services has become increasingly cheaper. Not to mention the fact that now there are dozens out there, each competing for your hard-earned dollars. However, with so many companies selling VPN services, it is easy to get confused.

To keep things simple, what if you just wanted to use a VPN service to anonymize and secure your internet browsing? You could use a full-blown VPN, like many we have reviewed over the years. Though the alternative is you could use an extension like a Google Chrome extension.

A Google extension, for the most part, can be turned on each time you want to stay anonymous online. The extension goes beyond the barebones incognito mode built into Chrome. The VPN extension can be used to mask your location, so you are invisible to all the websites assessed. So, the next logical question is which are the best chrome extensions in terms of privacy, security, and price? Well, that’s exactly what we’ll examine in this article.

Express VPN Chrome Extension

The Chrome extension by Express VPN is a fuss-free affair with a pretty easy to use interface. Though there are a couple of settings, you can play around with like WebRTC blocking and location spoofing. Despite the various settings it is still possible to click and go with the extension.

While the Chrome extension will require that you are a paid user, the extension also allows for you to teak the Windows app too. The fact that the extension opens the app when you want to make a few changes can be frustrating and annoying at the same time. But as it turns out it is necessary for true security and privacy.

The speeds are pretty good with the extension. However, it can be better, and that’s something we hope will be fixed with future updates. We prefer Express VPN’s Chrome extension in Australia because it comes backed by a full VPN suite by the company. Not to mention the over 2000+ servers across the world and each one offers excellent performance across the board.

Nord VPN’s Chrome Extension

Nord VPN’s Chrome extension is a bit strange or weird for many reasons. Nord VPN’s extension is a lot like ExpressVPN’s extension in terms of it offering a single click affair, but Nord tends to take things a few steps further.

Users have very little room to maneuver with the app. Choosing a server is limited to choosing a country. For instance, if you want to connect to an Australian server, you just choose Australia as the country and which server it ends up connecting to is a toss up between all the ones available. We assume it chooses the fastest server but have no way of proving it.

The only downside of Nord’s VPN Chrome extension is that the speed isn’t always good. Remember when we said that our assumption was it connected to the fastest server, our speed tests showed that many times the speed was slower than it should have been. Though your mileage may vary.

TunnelBear Chrome Extension

The TunnelBear Chrome extension is free which is arguably its biggest perk, and it has a pretty smooth signup process. Once the extension is installed, you’re taken to the signup page where you are asked to register a username and password. It takes a total of 3 minutes to get set up and started.

The only issue is that the free account entitles you to just 500MB of bandwidth a month. Obviously, it isn’t enough for most people. Not to mention their varying server speeds. That said if you feel that the service works fine for you, it is possible to pay for more bandwidth and it still works out to be a lot cheaper than the competition.

ZenMate Chrome Extension

Australians will find that the ZenMate Chrome extension offers a pretty good deal as it costs nothing. The speeds for a free service are pretty decent, not to mention loads of extra options and various other stuff that you won’t normally find with a free extension. That said the premium version is only free for a week.

The so-called freebie is meant to lure people into using the service, getting used to its speed and performance after which they need to buy it. After a weeklong trial, you’re down to the free model if you don’t pay.  The free version is good but not as great as the paid version. That said you’ll find the stable server connections are a huge perk even when compared to the competition which can charge you up to 25% more.

Conclusion

Finally, we feel that it is essential to stress the difference between full-blown VPN apps and Chrome extensions. VPN apps will secure your entire internet connection and every app that accesses the internet. Though the Chrome extension is limited solely to the Chrome browser and all the traffic passing through it.

A Chrome extension is only for those who want to browse anonymously. It isn’t a foolproof solution the way a full-blown VPN app is. That said if we had a choice, we’d go for a complete VPN app solution which includes a Chrome extension. That way we have the best of both worlds, but that type of solution isn’t free.