Proton VPN rolls out anti-censorship protocol to Windows, plus other updates

Getty Images / BlackJack3D

The maker of Proton VPN has unveiled new features geared toward fighting censorship and protecting free speech around the world. 

As David Peterson, General Manager of Proton VPN, said in the release, "It has become increasingly common for authoritarian governments to go beyond purely online technical measures to discourage or block VPN use. Certain countries have even begun demanding citizens hand over their smartphones for physical inspection." 

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"Protecting free speech and fighting censorship is a core part of our mission, and we're committed to doing what we can to help users around the world," Peterson continued. "With today's announcements, we hope to give people the tools they need to bypass censorship and access a free and fair internet, wherever they are." 

The updates include: 

New servers in 12 countries, some of which are at the bottom of the Freedom House Index and Democracy IndexA discrete icon for Android users so they can customize the Proton VPN app icon and name to disguise it
Stealth, the company's anti-censorship protocol that disguises VPN traffic as normal internet traffic, now works in Windows, to make it nearly impossible to detect when someone is using a VPN
Proton VPN

The announcement notes that Proton VPN signups saw a 4000% spike during Venezuela's disputed presidential election. Similarly, the company experienced a 3500% surge in sign-ups in Bangladesh amid anti-government protests.

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Because of this marked increase, Proton decided to release servers in 12 new countries, which makes Proton one of the latest VPN networks on the market. Those new countries are Afghanistan, Bahrain, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Yemen.

As for the Stealth protocol, it was designed to bypass sophisticated government censorship by using an obfuscation technique to make VPN traffic look like regular traffic. This protocol was already available for Android, iOS, and MacOS. Thanks to this update, the Stealth Protocol is now available for Windows users.

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The Discrete Icon feature makes it easy for Android users to hide the fact that Proton VPN is installed on their devices. 

To find out more about Proton, make sure to visit the official page.