PIA was once a VPN that was not recommended in PrivacyTools because it was US-based. However, the current PrivacyGuides do not have a requirement regarding the country in which the VPN provider is located. So, I wanted to get the community’s opinion on PIA again.
IMHO, they appear to meet the minimum requirements of PrivacyGuides on the technical side. Also, the fact that they have been externally audited even since they were acquired by Kapes (though those documents don’t seem to be publicly available?). And they have released the code for their app seems to give us a certain amount of confidence in them. However, the marketing statements on their website about the anonymity and privacy benefits that VPN bring often seem overblown.
Overall, I found their various efforts trustworthy, though not as much as PrivacyGuides recommends. What do you all think?
They were maybe trustworthy before being acquired although I personally never trusted them. Selling out to Kape killed any reputation they had and should keep you well away from them and their products. PIA VPN also doesn’t meet the minimum criterion: Anonymous cryptocurrency or cash payment option.
I think from a criteria perspective they are close to meeting the minimum requirements.
From what I can tell the trust criteria would probably be the hang up.
Public-facing leadership or ownership
I have my doubts the VPN would pass community scrutiny even if it did meet all the minimum requirements though.
A lot of people in the privacy community respect Michael Bazzell who still recommends PIA (for users who need a dedicated IP) but prefers Proton.
If you have been reading my previous books, you may have noticed that I have recommended Private Internet Access (PIA) in the past. This was my first provider when they were still independently owned back in 2015. Since then, they have been acquired by a larger conglomerate which owns several VPN brands. I believe Proton VPN is a superior product with better privacy and security benefits
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The second VPN service I recommend for some clients is PIA. This always upsets some readers. PIA is owned by a huge VPN conglomerate now and the executives have a colorful past. None of that concerns me because I only need this service for one specific purpose. They offer an affordable dedicated IP VPN, and they execute each exclusive address in a way which makes it difficult for them to know which customer is using a specific IP address.
Source: Extreme Privacy VPNs & Firewalls Digital Edition (2024/12/01)
Correct me if I am wrong but I think you can pay via BestBuy or Walmart gift cards. That can be done anonymously. My understanding is that would meet the requirement. I also think something like Coincards could also be used to pay for PIA.
From their payments page I can only see Credit/Debit, PayPal and BitPay as options but it’s possible I’m missing something. Gift cards only really count if you can buy then IRL without KYC. I also don’t think prepaid credit/debit cards count.