Proton, the maker of the popular Proton VPN has released a whole new set of features aimed at combating censorship, circumventing VPN blocks, and protecting the free speech of users.
These features include a new “Discreet Icon” for Android users, servers in an additional 12 countries, and its own proprietary “Stealth” protocol.
Proton VPN’s Discreet Icon will allow Android users to change the look of the VPN icon on their device.
Proton
Discreet Icon allows users to hide the Proton VPN icon on their Android phone and instead display it as something much more innocuous such as a weather, note-taking, or calculator app. While this may seem trivial to those in nations that have strong user privacy laws, for those in authoritarian countries it could be a game changer.
Proton VPN General Manager David Peterson explains, “it’s become increasingly common for authoritarian governments to go beyond purely technical measures to discourage VPN use. In an alarming trend, soldiers and police in certain countries have begun demanding citizens hand over their smartphones for physical inspection. People potentially face harassment, fines, and even arrest if the authorities find a VPN app.”
Proton VPN’s Stealth protocol can help bypass censorship and improve user privacy.
Proton
Another standout feature unveiled by Proton is the Stealth protocol. Already available for iOS and Mac, it is now officially being released for Windows users. Based on WireGuard and security protocol TLS, the Stealth protocol is designed to help users bypass censorship and further obfuscate, or hide, their VPN connection. Proton claims that the Stealth protocol will make it “almost impossible to detect when someone is using a VPN”.
Finally, Proton announced that it has added 12 new country locations to its VPN server network. These include Afghanistan, Bahrain, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Yemen. All of which Proton notes are at the bottom of the Freedom House Index and the Democracy Index.
All of these features have been made immediately available to all Proton VPN users—even those using the free service. Just update to the latest app version and enable them in the settings menu.
Author: Sam Singleton, Assistant Editor, PCWorld
Sam Singleton is PCWorld's VPN beat reporter and jack of all trades. When he's not on the hunt for the best computer deals he's covering VPNs, productivity software, laptops, and a wide gamut of consumer-grade hardware and software.