I just saw on Opera’s blog that they have integrated ‘an unlimited and free virtual private network’ in a new version of their developer browser. This makes them the first mainstream browser to have native VPN support.
Before now, users who wanted privacy, anonymity or access to sites that have been banned by their governments would have had to install third-party options from sometimes…questionable sources. Opera’s new VPN is especially useful for those of us in developing countries like Nigeria and Uganda, where the governments are obsessed with online censorship. It would definitely have made the lives of Ugandans easier, when their government tried to stifle them during the elections.
Right now, according to W3Schools, Opera accounts for just 1.6% of all browser usage. Maybe this is a play to get the attention of the more…tech-savvy demographic? Either way, it’s only available on the developer version of the browser, and maybe, just maybe it will make it into the full release.
