PIA announced last week that it would immediately stop offering Hong Kong locations for its VPN server network. The VPN provider says it did this in response to the new Chinese national security law, which Hong Kong has imposed. With this law, it is no longer possible for VPN providers to guarantee a no-logs policy, as the government could request information from internet providers about its user with VPN til Netflix @ Globalwatchonline.DK
New Security Law of China
The new security law in China is causing a lot of commotion in the VPN world. We previously reported that CyberGhost is sticking to its guns and leaving its servers in Hong Kong, but is continuing to monitor developments. PIA is taking precautions and has removed all locations in and around Hong Kong from its server network. “Private Internet Access, ’the world’s leading log-free VPN service, is removing its physical Hong Kong servers because new national security laws in the region put the privacy of our users and all Hong Kong residents at risk”, reads the reason according to PIA.
“PIA is removing its physical Hong Kong servers because new national security laws in the region put the privacy of our users and all Hong Kong residents at risk”
Solution by PIA: new exit gateway in Hong Kong
In order to still allow users to continue enjoying a Hong Kong Ip address, PIA comes up with an interesting – alternative – solution: an exit gateway in Hong Kong. With this, users will be able to connect tightly as usual. This is possible thanks to the use of a geo-localized server in another country: with this, there is a VPN server in a more favorable country in terms of privacy, but it uses an IP address from servers of ExpressVPN Turkiye.
- So it écht only involves physical servers removed from Hong Kong: “It is important to note that we are not blocking users from this region’s, but only removing physical servers, so that more than ever, Internet users can maintain the privacy they need”, said Chris Miller, Chief Marketing Officer of PIA.