Hide My IP is one of the most popular VPN service providers today. The company is based in the United States and promises its users safe and anonymous internet browsing at affordable rates but is Hide My IP safe? According to our analysis, Hide My IP is not a safe VPN and we don’t recommend it to users who want the highest levels of security when using the Internet.
Here are a few reasons why Hide My IP doesn’t provide you with 100% anonymous and safe browsing.
Table of Contents
US Jurisdiction is Within the 5-Eyes Alliance
Hide My IP VPN is registered in the US, which falls under the 5-Eyes surveillance alliance of countries that have a treaty to share their citizens’ data. The 5-Eyes alliance includes the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These countries spy on their citizens and share the information with each other.
This means that if the NSA or any government agency in any 5-Eyes member country demands for your IP address or browsing information from Hide My IP, the VPN provider has no choice but to hand over the information because it is legally obligated to.
Logging Policy
As if falling under the jurisdiction of the 5-Eyes alliance is not bad enough, Hide My IP VPN goes ahead to log your personal information. We highly advise against using a VPN that collects and stores your personal data. However, Hide My IP logs some of your information that can be used to track your online activities.
On their FAQ page, Hide My IP states that they do not log anything but their privacy policy shows that they log a lot of personal data including the following:
- Name, email address, IP address, and any other information required to validate your identity
- Credit card and other payment information
- Record of access to their products
- Browser visits and duration of time spent on their website
- Information regarding your use of their website
- Communication with the company including support tickets
- Your preference for particular products or services sold on their website
This is a lot of personal data that you wouldn’t want in the hands of a VPN service based in a 5-Eyes surveillance country. Keep in mind that the information they collect is kept forever whether you continue or stop using their services. That kind of logging is not what you would want in a safe VPN service.
Security Features
There are a few good things about Hide My IP VPN’s security, nevertheless. For instance, they have OpenVPN protocol on Mac, Android, and iOS but Windows users have to make do with L2TP which doesn’t provide a higher level of protection as OpenVPN. The VPN also gives you the option to use a Smart DNS proxy which relocates your Internet signal through a VPN tunnel.
Other security features include a kill switch that protects your real IP address from exposure when the VPN suddenly drops while you are still connected to the Internet and good protection from DNS and IP leaks.
Best Alternatives for Privacy
Hide My IP is not a secure VPN given that their jurisdiction in the US exposes you to the 5-Eyes alliance spying and the fact they log a lot of personal data.
If you are looking for a better and more secure VPN alternative, we highly recommend the following VPN providers:
- Provider
- User Rating
- Our Review
- Price
PureVPN- 4807 Votes
- $3.24 / month
ExpressVPN- 3795 Votes
- $6.67 / month
Conclusion
The safety of your personal data is the most important thing to consider when choosing a VPN service. After all, security and anonymity are the main reasons why you use a VPN in the first place. Unfortunately, Hide My IP does not provide the kind of safety you need in a VPN. The alternative options listed above provide a higher level of security.