ExpressVPN Disconnects From India; Expresses Concerns Over Internet Freedom

Last Updated on June 3, 2022 by Anu Joy

Popular VPN (Virtual Private Network) provider ExpressVPN has decided to remove its servers from India. This move comes after the government of India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) devised certain VPN rules in the country.

It has been made mandatory for VPN service providers to store user data for at least five years and share it with authorities when required. VPN providers will need to conform to these new rules from June 27, 2022. ExpressVPN has mentioned in its blog post that it has rejected the demands of the Indian government as it finds it against the purpose of VPNs. 

The British Virgin Islands-based VPN provider acknowledges that India’s CERT-In have formulated these laws to fight against cybercrime. But, the company intends to keep its users’ data private to avoid any potential misuse. It adds that this move by the Indian government is done to limit internet freedom and the VPN company doesn’t promote it. The firm states that it doesn’t collect logs of user activity, DNS queries, connection logs, timestamps, session durations, IP addresses etc. The company values privacy and will continue to provide a secured network to its users. 

Future Of ExpressVPN In India

ExpressVPN’s users in India will not be affected by this decision to move the servers out of India. Instead, it will connect to servers based in Singapore and the UK. The company assures that the difference in the experience of connecting to a virtual network versus a physical server will be negligible. The VPN provider has been successful with its “India(UK)” server location and will try to use that experience to provide a seamless transition. 

In the past, we have seen such instances with the banning of Chinese apps not adhering to the country’s privacy laws. PUBG/BGMI mobile game company had to set up servers in India as per the directive of the Indian government. It remains to be seen how this arrangement of ExpressVPN with physical servers outside India works out. 

Apart from ExpressVPN, another popular VPN provider, NordVPN, has also expressed its concerns regarding these new VPN laws in the country. NordVPN might also follow in the footsteps of ExpressVPN and move its servers from India.