ExpressVPN sent out a Tweet following the deal’s announcement, and as you might expect, the company seemed happy. “We are delighted to share we will be joining Kape, a London Stock Exchange-listed company, to form the global leader in digital privacy,” the tweet said. Of course, for a sum of $936 million, why wouldn’t the company be happy?
Thank you to everyone who has supported us in building a more private, secure, and open internet over last 10 years.https://t.co/tMtASfJXPL
— ExpressVPN (@expressvpn) September 13, 2021
Whether users should be happy about this transaction remains to be seen. We’ve recommended ExpressVPN as the best VPN service, and with good reason. ExpressVPN posted about the deal, saying that things would only improve with the purchase.
RELATED: The Best VPN Services of 2022
“ExpressVPN will remain a separate service from other Kape brands, and everything you’ve come to know and love about ExpressVPN will only continue to improve: our award-winning speed and reliability, premium global server network and bandwidth, 24/7 live chat, BVI jurisdiction, policy of not collecting activity or connection logs, independent third-party audits, and more,” the company’s post reads.
As far as Kape goes, ExpressVPN talked about the company’s “clear commitment to protecting the privacy of users.” It also cited the firm’s “track record with upholding the exacting privacy practices and policies of other privacy protection services.”
Kape used to be called Crossrider, and it was a company built for selling ads. In 2015, a joint study by the University of California, Berkeley and Google identified Crossrider as a major affiliate of ad injectors, including SuperFish. Malwarebytes actually listed Crossrider as a type of adware.
The company made tools for building extensions and applications for Windows and Mac that could be monetized by forcing ads onto people’s screens, which is maybe not the best look for a company that just purchased one of the most popular VPNs on the market.
That was under the Crossrider name. Since becoming Kape Technologies, the firm has acquired several VPNs, including Private Internet Access and CyberGhost VPN, so it’s clear that it is serious about VPNs and what they bring to the table.
Based on their quote above and Kape’s track record since its identity change in 2018, ExpressVPN may not be in such a bad place. However, we’ll have to wait and see whether ExpressVPN can keep up its promise of protecting users or if the company will waver on its policies under new ownership.
