Servers withdrawal announcement: Hong Kong (HK)

[Staff 10018]

Hello!

We are very sorry to inform you that we are withdrawing all of our servers in Hong Kong.

Because of the new legal framework allowing unlimited line wiretapping by Chinese entities without judicial overview, the painful decision is due and undelayable.

Our presence in Asia will continue in Singapore and Japan, where our infrastructure is oversized, while we are considering expansion in other countries when both legal framework and infrastructure status of a country allow it.

Kind regards & datalove
AirVPN Staff
 

[womans05 1]

but why it is same with any country , usa , uk , japan ? and air vpn data is encrypted ?

[BlackOn 0]

Good move

[womans05 1]

12 hours ago, womans05 said:

but why it is same with any country , usa , uk , japan ? and air vpn data is encrypted ?

now hk people need the vpn the most , will air vpn come back to hk ? why scared for the security law if data is encrypted Chinese entities can not read it ?

[wetah31897 0]

5 hours ago, womans05 said:

now hk people need the vpn the most , will air vpn come back to hk ? why scared for the security law if data is encrypted Chinese entities can not read it ?

What is Air is doing is actually the right thing, they cannot guarantee anymore the privacy of users connecting on HK servers.
There is a misconception that one needs a local server to use a VPN, but you don't, and it's actually safer to use a remote country VPN server with a higher level of "trust" than the country one is residing as the endpoint is not within immediate reach of the local authorities. One HKer could use Japan servers and it'll be "safer" than using HK servers.

[nexsteppe 24]

You see this as an act of cowardice, where as I see it as an act of pulling out from relationship with a potentially hostile provider before it inevitably gets ugly.  I say "inevitably" because it is inevitable: the mainland government will press the data center, if they can't get the information they want, they'll shut it down.  This isn't a situation where you can actually win.  The result will be the same either way — withdrawing all HK servers — because Air has principles that has guided their data provider decisions since the beginning, whereas the majority of VPN services seem to either not care or are already providing the necessary "cooperation" with the authorities to continue business.
You should be thankful for Air's choices here not insinuating doubts.
 

[Staff 10018]

@hawkflights

Hello!

We would like to underline that it's not a matter of "resisting". Wiretapping and correlation between incoming and outgoing traffic is performed freely, no need to ask for provider (VPN service or datacenter) cooperation at all. The real situation is that wiretapping without judicial overview will be transparent: the servers owners and operators will not even realize it is happening as it can be easily performed outside the server. 

Nothing changes indeed for careful Chinese customers and users, because they already needed to connect to servers outside Hong Kong according to the golden rule suggesting to always use servers located in jurisdictions different than your own. With the current move we are actually protecting those users who are unaware of the issue. Cowardice, if any, may be typical of those VPN services that keep operating in Hong Kong just for those few more bucks brought by unaware or naive customers.

Kind regards
 

[monstrocity 31]

While I admire Air's decision to withdraw from HK, as that makes sense for the protection of its users, I'm concerned about the increase in traffic to servers in Japan.  The four servers there have seen a steady increase in traffic over the past several months, and at times I've seen one or more servers at 60-80% load, particularly at night and on weekends (peak hours).

[zsam288 36]

Is there any method AirVPN can use to detect wiretapping on their servers?
In HK or anywhere else in the world?

[Staff 10018]

10 minutes ago, zsam288 said:

Is there any method AirVPN can use to detect wiretapping on their servers?
In HK or anywhere else in the world?

Hello!

It's physically impossible because, when done properly, wiretapping is external and transparent. Please check here to defeat adversaries with the ability to wiretap at the same time VPN servers lines and your line:
https://airvpn.org/forums/topic/54-using-airvpn-over-tor/?do=findComment&comment=1745

Kind regards