Privacy Without Compromise: Proton VPN is Now Built Into Vivaldi

Mchl

@DoctorG Thank you. Good thing it's not baked into the browser itself, and can be uninstalled. Still made my Friday morning a bit too nervous for my liking

Catweazle

@DoctorG, for me yje only other device synced is my phone (no extension synced), there I use the Calyx VPN, in Vivaldi I have enough with the CyberGhost Proxy to skip country restrictions, for other things I prefer a Desktop VPN.

newscpq

@netscapenavigator: what are your worries about Proton and Vivaldi being subject to US laws and jurisdiction, exactly? What disappoints you and why?

I'm not being argumentative, I'm just trying to understand.

barbudo2005

1.- It should have been better explained that clicking on the VPN button installed the extension. YES.

2.- A window should have appeared saying if you want to install the extension. YES

3.- In that same window, a message should have appeared saying that the VPN button can be removed just like any other button with the context menu. YES.

But, it seems to me that all the hype that has been expressed in this thread is exaggerated.

After removing the button from the bar and uninstalling the extension, did anything serious happen? NO.

It also seems to me that there is not the slightest degree of leniency with the team, which they DO deserve.

AlexTheGib

Will this feature be available on Android?

DoctorG

@AlexTheGib No.
But i have no information about plans to add it.

Sareth

@groovehead: @groovehead said:

How do we remove this? I do not want any Proton products anywhere near my devices.

Edit: it does not appear as an extension, so cannot be removed in the normal extension way.

Why though? Proton are a great company!

Nekomajin

@barbudo2005
Do they advertise their product with privacy? Yes.
Do they install a third-party extension without user confirmation? Yes.
Do they actually violate privacy? I am 100% sure that they don't. I trust both Vivaldi and Proton. But it still looks bad. The hype is not exaggerated at all. There are certain basic principles regarding privacy and data protection. One of them is to always prompt the user if you want to install something. That's all.

Gort

@Catweazle said in Privacy Without Compromise: Proton VPN is Now Built Into Vivaldi:

@Gort said in Privacy Without Compromise: Proton VPN is Now Built Into Vivaldi:

@Stardust said in Privacy Without Compromise: Proton VPN is Now Built Into Vivaldi:

I am confused, if you click on that new VPN button, will Proton VPN extension be installed without any confirmation? This is pretty bad imo

While I'm fine with the inclusion of this VPN, I do think it's wrong to have this install without any confirmation or warning by simply clicking the toolbar button. There could have been a confirmation dialogue on first start with the new feature or just a confirmation when clicking the button (preferably the first).

No, not on the first clic, it is only activated when you log in, not before.

I just did a test with a brand new profile (renamed my current .config/vivaldi and .cache/vivaldi directories, so as to make it as if it's a fresh install), and the extension definitely installs when you click on the toolbar icon, not when logging in.

There was no extensions in the Extensions page when I first opened Vivaldi after creating a new profile, but the extension turned up on the Extensions page right after clicking on the button (says it's initialising, etc). I didn't log in with this new profile.

16patsle

@aplan A built-in VPN has been a fairly popular feature request for a while, despite the fact that you've long been able to install one yourself. I see this as a middle ground to please most people. I don't think Vivaldi wants to make a VPN, but some users want one included, and I do think some could end up choosing Vivaldi over a competitor because of this. Proton VPN presumably wants more users so it's a great business deal for them too. As for it just being an ordinary extension, there's been enough outcry over the VPN even now, with it being a separate non-preloaded extension. Some people really dislike the thought that there might be VPN code in their browser, and the extension is a decent solution to that, while also not being too much of a burden on Vivaldi or Proton VPN.

csmo

Its not working for me in Private mode on Linux (latest snap).

I hit the connect button in private. It says connected, but IP test sites shows me my external IP address.

It works in normal not private mode.

16patsle

In case people have not seen it, there is a help page about Proton VPN that tries to explain a few points. Might be useful to check

https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/privacy/proton-vpn-for-vivaldi/

caiofe

That is a great update!
Now am going to have it all times enabled, just curious if the free plan has a limit of usage or we are all set to turn it on and forget it is

DoctorG

@csmo New update fixes issue in Private Mode.

16patsle

@caiofe From what I've seen there aren't really any strict limits related to speed or bandwidth on the free plan. But I believe there are less total server capacity for free users and fewer locations, so you could end up with some indirect limits there

colebantam

post deleted...

LarsScholz

@colebantam It is an extension! It gets installed when you click the VPN button. So if you did not click it yet, just remove the button. If you clicked it, just first remove the extension then the button.

Pesala

@colebantam said in Privacy Without Compromise: Proton VPN is Now Built Into Vivaldi:

How many user actually use Mail, Calendar, Widgets and VPN?

Not many will use all of Vivaldi’s features. The promise of a built-in email client was the main reason I started using it, even before the Mail Client was ready.

Features that you do not need or are not ready to try yet can be disabled or left unused.

Vivaldi never was a bare-bones browser, and that is not their policy. I only wish that they would focus a bit more on fixing regressions, and improving existing features, before adding more new features. VPN had only seven votes; while others have hundreds of votes.

colebantam

You guys are too fast with answering
I deleted the content of my post, when I realized its an extension ...

Features that you do not need or are not ready to try yet can be disabled or left unused.

I'm afraid disabling function still leaves possible security holes of the code behind ...

Vivaldi never was a bare-bones browser, and that is not their policy. I only wish that they would focus a bit more on fixing regressions, and improving existing features, before adding more new features. VPN had only seven votes; while others have hundreds of votes.

I also would like to have more focus on regressions and stability, instead of new features.

aplan

@16patsle said in Privacy Without Compromise: Proton VPN is Now Built Into Vivaldi:

A built-in VPN has been a fairly popular feature request for a while
They could all install the VPN extension a long time ago.

Just realise that when people ask you to implement VPN (or any other feature), they want it implemented at a high level: like free VPN at all, or configurable VPN, or something. They want a powerful feature, not just a third party VPN.

Let's look at this case from a different perspective. Does Vivaldi have VPN? Yes, it does! Does any other Chromium-based browser have VPN? Yes, because any user can install the Proton extension.