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Is using Urban VPN worth your time?
Or does this qualify as a safe VPN?
Getting a VPN to circumvent geo-restrictions and hide your identity feels rebellious.
With just a click, youre invisibleat least, thats what a typical user thinks.
While the reality is far from this imaginative perfection, things particularly look bad for most free VPNs.
100% free is a myth, which is nothing less than a cruel joke regarding a few VPNs.
However, we will keep an open mind.
Background Information
Surprisingly, their websites About Us section lacks information about Urban VPN headquarters.
You cant tell where its based or who the real people behind the venture are.
Besides, it mentions being run by a team of 30 experts.
I tried finding a Contact Us page, but it wasnt there when I was writing this.
Its Privacy Policy, however, has some information.
However, it ultimately depends on whether Urban VPN keeps customer information at all (discussed further).
Next, I checked if the company maintains a lively social media presence.
Overall, there are too many red flags about the Urban VPN background.
This doesnt look good.
User Interface
Urban VPN UI is extremely simple.
For the controls, users can turn off the app auto-start and opt out of resource sharing.
This comes with a strong recommendation, which says to let it remain ON.
Its not clear why this app wants to keep running in the background even when not in use.
My best guess is it must be related to the resource-sharing.
Anyway, I turned it off, and it still worked as usual.
Overall, the UI is pretty straightforward, with little room for anything else other than connecting.
Actually, we shouldnt expect all these features from a free VPN.
This mention was primarily for the first-timers to let them know about the things this UI doesnt care about.
Privacy
Normally, VPNs are considered security products.
In addition, VPNs provide a secure public WiFi experience and general anonymity.
Urban VPN privacy policy, however, takes a different route altogether.
In short, they may collect your searches, visits, online purchases, payment methods, etc.
It also mentions sharing the details with its business partners for commercial use.
They attempt to assure their users that the data collection is being aggregated.
It does have a resource-sharing opt-in button, but it renders the app useless if deactivated.
As of now, the VPN industrys standard is AES-256-bit encryption, the same which protects commercial banks.
Urban VPN states of using OpenVPN 256-bit encrypted protocol.
To clarify, the OpenVPN part refers to the protocol, and the 256-bit indicates the key size.
Consequently, its not clear which encryption Urban VPN deploys.
Most of the things looked okay in my brief session, barring MDNS and ICMPv6 packets.
In short, MDNS packets can reveal your identity on a local web link.
Overall, I didnt find any serious encryption issues for casual users.
The things I listed above (MDNS and ICMPv6) are the same problems many top-tier VPNs struggle with.
IP & DNS Leaks
These are simple tests to determine if the VPN provides basic anonymity.
Likewise,DNSleaktestis used to find the server handling the DNS queries.
I connected to a few servers, and Urban VPN successfully avoided any IP or DNS leaks.
Additionally, the distance between the user and the connecting server makes things worse.
Finally, I gave up after a few dozen attempts with different servers.
Words of Caution: Users Beware!
Its ironic for a security product to warn users about it potentially making their devices insecure.
Urban VPN is one of those VPNs I would never care to use personally.
Its a security hazard, has a sluggish user interface, and offers good-for-nothing speeds.
Want a cheaper alternative?
GetNamecheap FastVPNfor just $0.66 a month.
I would rate it 2 out of 10.
