The customizable Vivaldi browser adds built-in ProtonVPN
The highly customizable Vivaldi web browser now has built-in ProtonVPN integration. CEO Jon von Tetzchner described the collaboration as part of a broader shift toward "privacy over profiling, sovereignty over surveillance, independence over inertia," noting Vivaldi and Proton's headquarters are in Europe (a region with significantly better privacy regulations than the US). "We don't believe your personal data should be a bargaining chip."
Built-in ProtonVPN is only available on Vivaldi's desktop app, which is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. You can use Proton integration by clicking a new "VPN" icon at the top right of the toolbar. Doing so will prompt you to sign in with your Vivaldi account.
It connects with ProtonVPN's free plan by default, which offers solid speeds but only automatic server locations from (via The Verge) five randomly selected countries. Or, you can log into a paid Proton account for the fastest speeds and manual server selection. (Proton's service is Engadget's pick for the best VPN app.)
In a blog post announcing the collab, Tetzchner framed it as a people-focused deal. "With this partnership, we're uniting two forces in tech that build for people, not investors," he wrote. "It's not about growth hacks or shareholder slides. It's about protecting the web for the people who use it."
You can install ProtonVPN's extension for Chrome, Firefox and Chromium-based alternatives like Edge, Brave and Opera, so this is far from the only way to use it in your browser. Vivaldi's new button essentially automates the installation process.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/vpn/the-customizable-vivaldi-browser-adds-built-in-protonvpn-163824848.html?src=rss
