Who really owns your VPN?
A VPN sees all your internet traffic, so its owner matters. A few companies own many of the big VPN brands, and some also own the sites that rank them.
Biggest owners by number of VPNs
Latest fines and legal actions
- 2025-04-11 · Windscribe Limited · court (Athens, Greece) · —
- 2025 · Innovative Connecting Pte. Ltd. (Qihoo 360-linked network) · Apple · —
- 2024-07-04 · Proton AG · Apple (at request of Roskomnadzor, Russia) · —
- 2024-06-20 · Kaspersky (AO Kaspersky Lab) · US Commerce Department (BIS) · —
- 2024-04-15 · Gen Digital Inc. · Czech Office for Personal Data Protection (UOOU) · CZK 351,000,000
- 2024-02-22 · Gen Digital Inc. · FTC · USD 16,500,000
- 2023-04 · Amagicom AB (Mullvad) · Swedish police (search warrant) · —
- 2021-09-14 · Kape Technologies · US Department of Justice · USD 1,685,000
The review sites are not neutral
Some of the best-known VPN review sites belong to the same companies that sell VPNs, or earn a commission on every sale they send.
- Ziff Davis Digital Media (tech publishing) subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc.: PCMag, Mashable, CNET, ZDNET, Lifehacker
- Webselenese subsidiary of Kape Technologies: vpnMentor, WizCase, Safety Detectives
- Comparitech Limited subsidiary of Point Wild (Pango group): Comparitech, ProPrivacy
Data checked 14 Oct 2026. How we check facts.