08 Aug Privacy Group Files Lawsuit Against VPN ‘Hotspot Shield’ Over Traffic Interception
Last Monday, privacy advocate Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) issued formal charges to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against VPN provider Hotspot Shield for allegedly intercepting and redirecting user data to partner websites including advertising firms.
Hotspot Shield is a well-know free VPN service, which according to the CDT, gathers vast amounts of data that’s shared to third party firms. This contradicts the company’s promise of providing absolute anonymity to its users.
The privacy rights group collaborated with security researchers from Carnegie Mellon University to investigate whether Hotspot Shield redirects e-comm activity to partnering sites. The investigation yielded a 14-page complaint filed to the FTC.
CDT urges the FTC to conduct a probe on Hotspot Shield for practicing deceptive and unfair business methods that compromise user privacy.
To date, Hotspot Shield has not commented on the issue, with reporter’s emails being flagged as unsent.
Source: Ars Technica
