We are proud to announce that we have recently partnered with i2Coalition and have become a part of VTI (VPN Trust initiative), a consortium of leading VPN providers focused on improving digital safety for internet users around the world. The purpose of the VTI program is to build understanding, strengthening the trust, and mitigating the risk for VPN users. It is a group of VPN providers who come together to ensure that all VPN providers stick to a very high ethical standard of privacy.
Let’s get to know more about i2Coalition.
What is i2Coalition?
The i2Coalition or Internet Infrastructure Coalition is aimed to give voice to those who build the infrastructure of the internet, including domain registrars and registries, data centers, web hosting companies, cloud infrastructure providers, managed service providers and other tech-related companies and people. The genesis of the organization came into being back in 2011 when many of the i2Coalition founding and charter members joined forces during the successful effort to prevent SOPA and PIPA from becoming United States law. The organization was formally founded in 2012 after realizing the need for an industry voice to keep the free flow of information and commerce.
The mission of the company is:
Our mission is to keep the Internet open as an engine for growth and innovation. We work with Internet infrastructure providers to advocate for sensible policies, design and reinforce best practices, help create industry standards, and build awareness of how the Internet works.
The organization defines its core value as:
- Education: We educate lawmakers and influencers about the Internet infrastructure.
- Engagement: We engage in issues that affect the Internet’s success.
- Advocacy: We advocate for policies that support Internet growth and innovation.
- Access: We strive for open, fair, and equal access to the Internet.
- Privacy: We demand clear due process of law in the digital landscape.
What is VPN Trust Initiative (VTI)?
According to i2Coalition, VTI is defined as:
The VPN Trust Initiative (VTI) is an industry-led and member-driven consortium of VPN business leaders focused on improving digital safety for consumers by building understanding, strengthening trust, and mitigating risk for VPN users.
The purpose of building VTI is to address VPN concerns, and proactively solve associated challenges by focusing on:
- Defining VPN best practices
- Designing and reinforcing industry standards
- Providing accurate information to government officials and policy makers
- Promoting appropriate industry-led regulations
- Informing the wider technology industry
Partnership of i2Coalition and hide.me
We were warmly welcomed by i2coalition and appreciated for the VPN service we are providing. They stated:
In the years that followed, the popularity of VPNs has surged, and hide.me has kept up with the demand. It now has VPN servers in 60 different locations, and offers a comprehensive suite of services to allow users to access blocked and restricted content on the internet safely and securely.
David Hamilton from i2Coalition has interviewed Sebastian Schaub of hide.me VPN to ask questions about our services, how are we unique from other providers, and how VPN providers can earn the trust of the users? The highlights of the interview are as follows:
i2C: A no-log VPN is a huge step for users to have more privacy and security, but what are some of the things hide.me does to provide a truly anonymous Internet experience to customers?
Schaub: I think we will have to try and answer this question from two different perspectives.
Firstly, let’s look at the things which hide.me does to create enough trust among its users, which is beyond security features.
External Audit – hide.me was among the first VPNs if not the first to get itself audited by an independent security analyst.
Transparency Reports – hide.me was a pioneer in creating transparency about what legal requests we receive, where do those requests come from, and how did we respond to those. We have been publishing these transparency reports since 2012, and we just published the 2019 version a week ago.
8 years of history – We are not another “me-too” VPN; we have been in the market for almost eight years, and customers value this and helps them perceive us as a credible VPN service.
Independence & Loyalty to Users – We are very proud to be an absolutely autonomous VPN provider who is not a part of any big corporate group, which allows us the complete freedom to make decisions based on our users’ privacy instead of on the basis of maximizing shareholder wealth.
Location, Location, Location – We are based out of Malaysia as the local laws don’t oblige
us to store user activity logs. We made this choice in the best interest of our users, although it’s not the most ideal country for us to be able to find the best talent to work for us.
Secondly, lets look at the features that hide.me offers to ensure anonymity.
IPv6 support – We are again one of the pioneers in offering end-to-end IPv6 support (discussed this in a lot more detail as answer to your other question)
Kill Switch – we offer a firewall that limits all connections to the VPN server and also functions as “Kill Switch” that blocks connectivity if the VPN connection drops.
Split tunneling – We allow the users to choose which apps they would like to use with a VPN and which ones without so they can enjoy their online experience uninterrupted.
StealthGuard – Allows users to choose certain apps that will not work at all without a VPN connection.
You can read the detailed interview of Sebastian Schaub from hide.me at i2Coalition blog.
We love bringing you this content and hope it helps keep you safe and secure online. Feel free to share it with your friends, too.
Here at hide.me we are all about internet freedom, and we are happy to be in a position to bring that to everyone. That is why we give you a 30-day money-back guarantee on our Premium plan. No questions asked and no logs recorded.
If you have any questions, please feel to contact our 24/7 support team either at support@hide.me or via live chat.
