UK VPN Service Will Disclose Users’ Details
British VPN service called Hide my Ass confirmed that it will hand over the details of its subscribers to the FBI if they show up with a court order.
This may be something new for those believing that using the VPN service would ensure them certain a degree of anonymity, even if they were carrying out cyber attacks on others. The news emerged after Hide my Ass began receiving letters from the users that said its services were used by large hacker groups like Lulzsec. On its official page, the company told that when Lulzsec IRC chat logs had been released, Hide my Ass turned out to be in the list of the VPN services they used for cyber attacks.
However, the service did nothing about this fact, because there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the wrongdoing, as well as to identify which particular accounts were used. But later the organization got a court order asking for data regarding to one of the accounts allegedly involved in the leak. The company’s terms of service and privacy policy state that their services are not to be used for unauthorized activity. Consequently, being a legitimate firm, Hide my Ass will cooperate with the law enforcement provided they receive a court order.
The company clarified that its VPN service, as well as VPN services in general, are not designed to be used for any kind of unauthorized activity. That’s why it is naive for hacktivists to believe that by paying a small subscription fee to a company providing VPN service they may feel free to violate the law without fearing consequences. Meanwhile, Hide my Ass pointed out that it’s true not only for them, but even hardcore privacy services, advertising their service as the one that would never let identify you, will most likely to have their network tracked and tapped by the police.
Hide my Ass was founded back in 2005 as a way to bypass filtering of the Internet, and it still believes that the web shouldn’t be filtered. In case the FBI shows up with a court order, the company will only provide them with the logging times that users connect and disconnect from the VPN network. Although the service doesn’t monitor the traffic once it is running, it is still possible to locate abusive users.
Hide my Ass added that it is a company residing in the United Kingdom, and therefore it will only obey British laws. So, if any other government wants log details, it will have to prove the subscribers violated British laws, not its own.
This may be something new for those believing that using the VPN service would ensure them certain a degree of anonymity, even if they were carrying out cyber attacks on others. The news emerged after Hide my Ass began receiving letters from the users that said its services were used by large hacker groups like Lulzsec. On its official page, the company told that when Lulzsec IRC chat logs had been released, Hide my Ass turned out to be in the list of the VPN services they used for cyber attacks.
However, the service did nothing about this fact, because there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the wrongdoing, as well as to identify which particular accounts were used. But later the organization got a court order asking for data regarding to one of the accounts allegedly involved in the leak. The company’s terms of service and privacy policy state that their services are not to be used for unauthorized activity. Consequently, being a legitimate firm, Hide my Ass will cooperate with the law enforcement provided they receive a court order.
The company clarified that its VPN service, as well as VPN services in general, are not designed to be used for any kind of unauthorized activity. That’s why it is naive for hacktivists to believe that by paying a small subscription fee to a company providing VPN service they may feel free to violate the law without fearing consequences. Meanwhile, Hide my Ass pointed out that it’s true not only for them, but even hardcore privacy services, advertising their service as the one that would never let identify you, will most likely to have their network tracked and tapped by the police.
Hide my Ass was founded back in 2005 as a way to bypass filtering of the Internet, and it still believes that the web shouldn’t be filtered. In case the FBI shows up with a court order, the company will only provide them with the logging times that users connect and disconnect from the VPN network. Although the service doesn’t monitor the traffic once it is running, it is still possible to locate abusive users.
Hide my Ass added that it is a company residing in the United Kingdom, and therefore it will only obey British laws. So, if any other government wants log details, it will have to prove the subscribers violated British laws, not its own.
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