Who owns your VPN?
The "10 different VPN brands" on a top-10 list are often 2-3 companies. This is the ownership graph - every edge with its evidence and confidence. When one company owns VPNs and the review sites that rank them, "independent review" is a marketing term.
Comparitech + ProPrivacy · UK / USA
VPN review sites owned by the operator of Hotspot Shield, Betternet, VPN 360, Ultra VPN (Pango/Aura -> Point Wild). Comparitech's own site states it is owned by Comparitech Limited (no operator disclosure on the page; acquisition reported by VPNCompare).
Brands controlled:
- no tracked VPN brand
evidence: VPNCompare
Dreamfii / UFO VPN app family (UFO VPN, VPNBot, Fast VPN) · Hong Kong
July 2020: exposed unsecured Elasticsearch cluster, 894 GB, plaintext passwords, IPs, session tokens, despite zero-logs claims; ~20M logs/day; database re-exposed and 'Meow'-attacked. Widely repeated '1TB' figure refers to a second re-exposed dataset - exact size unconfirmed.
Brands controlled:
- UFO VPN unpublished unclear
evidence: Comparitech (Bob Diachenko)
Free Connected Limited (X-VPN) -> Chengdu Zhuozhuo Technology · Hong Kong shell -> mainland China owner (Chengdu Zhuozhuo Technology Co., Ltd.)
X-VPN was the #4 most-downloaded free iOS VPN in the US in 2024; App Store developer name conceals the China link (TTP 2025-04-01).
Brands controlled:
- X-VPN unpublished
evidence: Tech Transparency Project
GZ Systems Ltd. (press umbrella: Gaditek) · British Virgin Islands (Tortola mailing address); operations/co-founder in Pakistan, formerly Hong Kong
PureVPN owner. Group structure behind 'Gaditek' umbrella (incl. claimed sibling brand Ivacy) not verified via primary filings this session. 2017 FBI cyberstalking case: handed over connection timestamps despite 'zero log' marketing.
Brands controlled:
evidence: Wikipedia · TorrentFreak · The Register
Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec / NortonLifeLock) · Tempe, Arizona, USA + Prague, Czech Republic (NASDAQ: GEN)
Symantec -> NortonLifeLock (Nov 2019, after Broadcom took enterprise unit) -> merged with Avast Sept 2022 -> Gen Digital. VPN/cyber portfolio: Norton VPN, Avast SecureLine, AVG Secure VPN, HMA (HideMyAss), Avira (Phantom VPN), CCleaner. Avast Jumpshot browsing-data scandal 2014-2020; FTC penalty $16.5M Feb 2024.
Brands controlled:
- Avast SecureLine VPN unpublished
- AVG Secure VPN unpublished
- avira-phantom-vpn
- HideMyAss!
- hma
- Norton VPN unpublished
evidence: Wikipedia · Ars Technica · The Verge
Hola Networks (Hola VPN) / Luminati / Bright Data · Israel
Free Hola users' devices serve as exit nodes for the paid proxy network. Sold as Luminati from late 2014 ($20/GB), exposed May 2015 after 8chan attack; 75.6% sold to EMK Capital 2017 ($125M at $165M valuation, below announced ~$200M); Luminati renamed Bright Data March 2021.
Brands controlled:
- bright-data
- Hola VPN unpublished
- hola-vpn
evidence: ZDNet · Calcalist · Business Wire
Kape Technologies plc (formerly Crossrider) · London, UK (dev center Tel Aviv); delisted from LSE May 2023
Founded 2011 as Crossrider, a browser-extension/monetization SDK widely used by adware and ad injectors (Malwarebytes classifies Crossrider as adware). Sagi acquired it 2012 for $37M; renamed Kape March 2018; pivoted to VPNs. Now owns 5 VPN brands plus review-site publisher Webselenese (vpnMentor, WizCase).
Brands controlled:
- CyberGhost
- ExpressVPN
- intego
- private-internet-access
- Private Internet Access
- vpnmentor
- wizcase
- ZenMate
evidence: Wikipedia · RestorePrivacy · CyberInsider
Meta Platforms (Facebook) - Onavo · Menlo Park, California, USA
Acquired Onavo (Israeli VPN/analytics) Oct 2013 for ~$120M. Apple forced Onavo Protect from iOS App Store Aug 2018 for harvesting other apps' data; Android version sunset Feb 2019. Court documents: 'Project Ghostbusters' used Onavo to impersonate Snapchat/YouTube/Amazon servers and decrypt traffic. ACCC suit settled: Meta paid A$20M July 2023.
Brands controlled:
- onavo
evidence: Wikipedia · TechCrunch · TechCrunch
Nord Security (Nordsec / Nord Security group, Tesonet ecosystem) · Lithuania (operating cos in Panama/Netherlands/UK)
Correction: the investor often miscited as 'Novum Ventures' is NOVATOR (TechCrunch 2022-04-06). NordVPN (2012) + Surfshark merged under one holding Feb 2022. Acquired Atlas VPN 2021, killed it 2024-04-24. Nebular as parent entity: not verified this session.
Brands controlled:
evidence: NordVPN (company) · TechCrunch · PCMag
OVPN Inc (2025 acquirer) · not documented
Per OVPN's own privacy notice ("Last updated June 2026"): "In 2025, OVPN was acquired by OVPN Inc." The acquirer's ownership and background are not further documented on that page. An earlier community claim of an Aura/Pango acquisition (2023, an AirVPN forum post) is not confirmed by the operator and was removed from this map.
Brands controlled:
- OVPN reported
evidence: OVPN
Pango Group / Point Wild (ex-AnchorFree) · United States
Pango Group was formed in June 2021 as a sister business unit of Aura; it separated from Aura as a stand-alone company in August 2024 and merged with Total Security in December 2024, the combined company rebranding to Point Wild (Point Wild company history). Aura had acquired Pango/AnchorFree (Hotspot Shield) on July 7, 2020. The Pango Group portfolio per its own press materials: Hotspot Shield, Betternet, Touch VPN, VPN 360, Ultra VPN, Robo Shield, Ultra AV. Point Wild also records the October 2021 acquisition of the review site Comparitech. Hotspot Shield pages still carry (c) Anchorfree, LLC branding.
Brands controlled:
- Betternet
- Hotspot Shield
- Touch VPN - Fast Hotspot Proxy unpublished
evidence: PR Newswire (Aura) · Point Wild
Qihoo 360 / Innovative Connecting app family (Turbo VPN, VPN Proxy Master, Thunder VPN, Snap VPN) · Singapore shells (Innovative Connecting, Lemon Clove, Autumn Breeze) -> Cayman (Lemon Seed) -> Qihoo 360, China
TTP found 20 of the top 100 free iOS VPN apps of 2024 covertly Chinese-owned (70M+ US downloads). Qihoo 360 is on the US Commerce Department Entity List (June 2020) and the DoD 'Chinese military company' list. The 2021-era family mapping (Innovative Connecting / Autoclean / All Connected / Shadowone) is VPNpro's work - NOT a 2021 TTP report (no 'Big Sleep' TTP report exists).
Brands controlled:
- Snap VPN unpublished
- Thunder VPN unpublished
- Turbo VPN
- VPN Proxy Master
evidence: Tech Transparency Project / Campaign for Accountability · VPNpro
SuperVPN (SuperSoftTech) app family · unclear (Chinese-linked app family per industry mapping; no primary filing verified this session)
Feb 2021: 21M records of SuperVPN/GeckoVPN/ChatVPN users sold on hacker forum (HIBP: 20M+). May 2023: second exposure of 360M records / 133 GB found by Jeremiah Fowler (reported via vpnMentor). Chinese ownership widely asserted - unclear pending primary evidence.
Brands controlled:
- Super VPN unpublished unclear
- supervpn unclear
evidence: vpnMentor (Jeremiah Fowler) · Malwarebytes · Have I Been Pwned
Webselenese (vpnMentor + WizCase) · unclear
VPN review sites owned by the parent of ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, PIA, ZenMate. SafetyDetectives is NOT Webselenese/Kape - no evidence found for that claim (checked 2026-09-27); do not repeat it.
Brands controlled:
- no tracked VPN brand
evidence: CyberInsider · Wikipedia
Ziff Davis Inc. (formerly J2 Global) · New York, USA (NASDAQ: ZD)
Renamed from J2 Global to Ziff Davis in 2021. Owns VPNs (IPVanish, StrongVPN via NetProtect/VIPRE Security Group) AND media outlets that review VPNs (PCMag, Mashable). Encrypt.me and SugarSync acquisitions via J2 Global (reported). Ookla/Speedtest ownership claim could NOT be verified this session - do not assert.
Brands controlled:
confidence: confirmed = primary/regulatory source · reported = serious press or operator statement · unclear = ownership not established · rumor = labeled as suspicion, never stated as fact. Every brand link carries its edge's dates and sources in the tooltip. Corrections: contact.