ExpressVPN REJECTS Indian Govt order, removes VPN servers from India

tech.hindustantimes.com:

ExpressVPN is the first one to deny the Indian government's new laws regarding VPN usage, and thus removes its VPN servers from India. The company in an official statement says that the VPN servers have been removed from India but the services will continue to be available to Indian users. Hence, you will be able to use ExpressVPN services from India via the virtual servers route, the servers of which will be placed in the UK and Singapore.

The Indian government will implement the new VPN rules from June 27, 2022, under which all VPN operators having their servers in India will need to collect users’ real names, IP addresses assigned to them, usage patterns, and other identifying data. The data would also be required to be shared with the authorities on demand. ExpressVPN says this defies the whole point of the PN services and hence, has decided to back out of India.

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In its blog post, ExpressVPN expresses its views strongly against the new laws. “The new data law initiated by India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), intended to help fight cybercrime, is incompatible with the purpose of VPNs, which are designed to keep users’ online activity private.” says ExpressVPN.

“The law is also overreaching and so broad as to open up the window for potential abuse. We believe the damage done by potential misuse of this kind of law far outweighs any benefit that lawmakers claim would come from it. ExpressVPN refuses to participate in the Indian government’s attempts to limit internet freedom. As a company focused on protecting privacy and freedom of expression online, we will continue to fight to keep users connected to the open and free internet with