Do you trust Xi with your 'private' browsing data? Apple, Google stores still offer China-based VPNs, report says
- Reference: 1749838808
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/06/13/apple_google_chinabased_vpns/
- Source link:
Neither company requires all app developers in their respective stores to explicitly state where they are based, so forcing only VPN-makers to do so would provoke a lot of blowback.
However, that's a big problem for users of these VPNs, as it means the Chinese government could theoretically access communications flowing through them. Chinese law can force any China-based company to assist national intelligence agencies and share customer data with Beijing.
[1]
In April, TTP published its [2]initial VPN report that found 20 of last year's top 100 free VPNs in the US Apple App Store showed evidence of Chinese ownership. Five of these had ties to [3]Qihoo 360 , a Chinese cybersecurity firm that has been placed on the US Commerce Department's Entity List under export-control restrictions over concerns about its alleged links to China's People's Liberation Army.
[4]
[5]
Of the five, three were eventually pulled, but two (Turbo VPN and VPN Proxy Master) remained available in the US Apple App Store as of early May, according to TTP's [6]second report , published this week. It identified 11 other Chinese-owned VPN apps as well.
This new report also looked at Google Play Store's VPNs, and found that it offered four Qihoo 360-connected apps (Turbo VPN, VPN Proxy Master, Snap VPN, and Signal Secure VPN) plus seven other Chinese-owned VPNs listed in TTP's earlier research.
[7]
These are the Chinese-owned apps that TTP uncovered on each company's app store as of May 8.
On the Apple App Store:
X-VPN - Super VPN & Best Proxy
Ostrich VPN - Proxy Master
VPN Proxy Master - Super VPN
Turbo VPN Private Browser
VPNIFY - Unlimited VPN
VPN Proxy OvpnSpider
WireVPN - Fast VPN & Proxy
Now VPN - Best VPN Proxy
Speedy Quark VPN - VPN Proxy
Best VPN Proxy AppVPN
HulaVPN - Best Fast Secure VPN
Wirevpn - Secure & Fast VPN
Pearl VPN
These 11 VPN apps are available on the Google Play Store:
Turbo VPN - Secure VPN Proxy
VPN Proxy Master - Safer Vpn
X-VPN - Private Browser VPN
Speedy Quark VPN - VPN Master
vpnify - Unlimited VPN Proxy
Ostrich VPN - Proxy Unlimited
Snap VPN: Super Fast VPN Proxy
Signal Secure VPN - Robot VPN
VPN Proxy OvpnSpider
HulaVPN - Fast Secure VPN
VPN Proxy AppVPN
[8]Chinese spy crew appears to be preparing for conflict by backdooring 75+ critical orgs
[9]Suspected Chinese spies right now hijacking buggy Ivanti gear – for third time in 3 years
[10]You'll never guess which mobile browser is the worst for data collection
[11]Pornhub pulls out of Florida, VPN demand 'surges 1150%'
Apple's [12]guidelines do require that any apps offering VPN services "may not sell, use, or disclose to third parties any data for any purpose." But it's difficult to imagine that an app developer based in China would honor Apple's rules over President Xi Jinping's.
Google doesn't appear to have specific policies for VPNs, but it does [13]require apps to be "transparent" about how they handle user data.
Neither Apple nor Google responded to The Register 's questions about the apps, or their policies related to data disclosure and app developers' provenance, by press time. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/research&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aEyfdoMlQFVNwv6XqlMtdQAAA9M&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/apple-offers-apps-with-ties-to-chinese-military
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/27/atlantic_council_china_vuln_research/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/research&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aEyfdoMlQFVNwv6XqlMtdQAAA9M&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/research&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aEyfdoMlQFVNwv6XqlMtdQAAA9M&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/spot-check-apple-and-google-still-have-a-chinese-vpn-problem
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/research&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aEyfdoMlQFVNwv6XqlMtdQAAA9M&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/09/china_malware_flip_switch_sentinelone/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/03/suspected_chines_snoops_hijacked_buggy/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/07/mobile_browser_data_collection/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/05/pornhub_vpn_demand_surge/
[12] https://archive.ph/XJLhn
[13] https://archive.ph/Q8LVh
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
At this point I trust the Chinese more than the Americans... and companies like Google and meta faecesbook. China doesn't give a fuck what I do. America, on the other hand, likes to probe everyone's anus. Right now I distrust any American company, because Donald and his ilk exert control over them.
Why should Apple/Google pull them?
Just because they are (supposedly) linked to China's government? So what if organization A objects to a VPN that's linked to Israel, organization B to Russia, organization C to the US... There will be nothing everyone trusts, so they should just delete them all right?
Now if the *US government* said "we do not trust the following VPN apps because they're linked China's government they could presumably tell Apple/Google to remove those apps from the *US* app store (and I sincerely wish it would have to be done under a law that was passed specifically for the purpose, not some shady executive order from a president who thinks he's a king)
So this "tech transparency project" could point stuff out and recommend the US government (and maybe other governments) do it for their citizens, but pressuring tech companies to do it for everyone just based on their say so? Fuck that!
As for the question in the article's title, if I was using a VPN I would rather the information go to some other government than to my own government. Because one of the most important uses of VPNs is to preserve your privacy/anonymity from your OWN GOVERNMENT. Unless you have access to state secrets or are otherwise potentially vulnerable to foreign blackmail I think you should ALWAYS prefer some other country's government having access to things you want to hide rather than your own government. Because even if you trust your own government today you might not trust the one you have tomorrow - as the unfortunate lesson of the US is teaching us all right now in real time.
What the hell is Xi going to do with my browsing data? He doesn't care about me, I am and never will be of any importance to China's government. But my own government, who knows maybe some tech zillionaire supposedly making the government more "efficient" slurps it up and sells it to advertisers or feeds it to his pet AI.
Re: Why should Apple/Google pull them?
Plus, the US government is in a much better place to do something to me than the CPC is. My email provider is not based in the US either.
Qihoo 360
I believe Qihoo 360 analyzed some malware from the big suits a while ago, then got listed in the export controls.
China hit piece, nothing more
If Tech Transparency Project is so bothered about people being spied upon when they use VPNs, let's hear from them about USA based VPNs. Why am I supposed to trust American or American-owned VPNs? The USA does not represent the world. With its tariffs it is not on 'our' side. A big F U to the USA.