Proton VPN Doesn't Need Credentials on Android Anymore

Proton is making its VPN service free in several countries for a few weeks before national elections, and a week after, to help people access accurate information.

The company’s free servers will be available in 21 nations, including Brazil, Jordan, and Tunisia, where elections are due to be held. The change is enabled by Proton’s Smart Routing technology, which uses servers in nearby countries to simulate the IP address of the nation in question.

Proton also writes on its blog:

The past 10 years have seen assaults on democratic institutions and ideals in autocracies (like Russia), fledgling democracies (like Tunisia), and established democracies (like the US) alike. The good news, according to Freedom House’s 2023 report, is that last year, the number of democracies that advanced political rights and civil liberties (34) nearly matched the number of democracies that backslid (35) for the first time in 17 years. If this year’s elections go well, this could be the first year in nearly two decades when the globe became more democratic overall.

By providing these free VPN servers to the people most likely to face censorship, we want to ensure people everywhere can get the information they need and have a right to receive. Like Lifetime Account Charity Fundraiser, it’s a concrete example of our commitment to our principles. We believe everyone everywhere has the right to privacy and the right to self-determination, and we will help them protect these rights, regardless of their technical capacity or ability to pay.

The company adds that the list of countries could change as elections are postponed or rescheduled. Proton is also monitoring the situation in other nations and might provide additional free servers depending on events.

In related news, Proton today announced that its Android app now supports credential-less logins. That is, you can start using Proton without needing to create or sign into an account — you just need to set up the VPN profile.

Proton writes that the change will make it easier for people in countries with high internet restrictions to access Proton’s free service.

“Over the past year, VPNs have become an essential tool in combating online censorship, with signups surging during major geopolitical events around the world be they protests, contested elections, or government crackdowns,”

David Peterson, general manager at Proton, said in a blog post.

“As authoritarian governments have stepped up their efforts to restrict freedom of their citizens, we have stepped up our efforts to defend those same freedoms with Proton VPN. Protecting free speech and fighting censorship is a daily battle and this initiative and the launch of Credential-less logins on Android is part of our long-term commitment towards advancing freedom online.”

Read also: Proton Goes Non-Profit

Alongside the above, Proton today added more servers to its lineup of offerings in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland. The company says that the servers, which are available to paid users, should provide “even faster speeds” to customers in those countries.

Elsewhere, Proton says that it’s in the process of upgrading all of its infrastructure with faster CPUs and additional memory to support its “rapidly growing user base.” To start, Proton is upgrading its infrastructure in the US, and it plans to move on to the rest of its servers in the near future.

This news comes only a few days after Google retired Google One VPN and IPVanish launched an emergency VPN service.