HideMyAss VPN Review

HideMyAss VPN dates back to 2005 when Jack Cator’s free HideMyAss Proxy transformed into a popular VPN provider. The name “HideMyAss” was given after the motto of the company which mainly depicts removing your online footprints. This popular VPN service was created by a 16-year old when he wanted to surf the school’s internet without any restriction.

HideMyAss VPN assists people bypass online restrictions and censorship at swift speeds. It was only by 2014 that the company had already raked over $15million.

HideMyAss VPN Pricing Plans – Is It Expensive?

HideMyAss VPN offers four different pricing plans for its customers.

•         1 Month Plan = $11.99
•         12 Month Plan = $83.88 which makes $6.99/Month
•         24 Month Plan = $119.76 which makes $4.99/Month
•         36 Month Plan = $107.64 which makes $2.99/Month

HideMyAss Payment Methods – Simple and Easy

You can subscribe to HideMyAss VPN using the following payment methods.

• Pay Pal
• Credit Cards (VISA, MasterCard)
• UnionPay
• Wire Transfer
• Cash At 7-11
• AMEX

HMA does accept popular payments methods; however, it does not allow Bitcoin and Altcoin payments which are crucial for anonymity of the user. It looks like HMA wants to know who their users are and where they belong. 

HideMyAss VPN also has a money back guarantee which is applicable if you have a valid reason to discontinue your subscription. However the money back guarantee has its unusual condition, it is only valid until you have used 10GB of data or less than 100 connections.

HideMyAss Jurisdiction – Inside Five Eyes

Since HMA is headquartered in London, which itself is a part of a five-eyes. Moreover, the United Kingdom is very aggressive about its privacy policy and has one of the strictest spying systems. The UK labels its program to snoop citizens as in favor of “National Security.”

Before we move on and discuss HMA features in detail let’s shed light on how VPNs that have their headquarters in 14-Eyes countries hinder their user’s online privacy?

The military war has evolved its diplomatic and military goals. Back in 2001, a report was put forward in European parliament which elaborated why spying on citizens can help national security. Although countries in the 14-eyes agreement have agreed not to spy each other as enemies they can as allies.

For example, if the United States has a particular law that restricts its agencies to spy on their citizens, then they can ask the government of United Kingdom to do that for them and get the desired results one way or the other. Since VPNs are used to hide IP addressing and ensure privacy, VPN service providers that reside in such countries have no option but to give away the information of the user especially when they claim they do take logs.

HideMyAss Salient Features – The Prominent Ones

This HideMyAss VPN review discusses all features of HMA. Here is a detailed inspection of HMA’s salient features.

Servers and Performance

HideMyAss hosts over 930 VPN servers in more than 280 locations worldwide. These numbers show what HMA has achieved over the years.

HideMyAss proudly boasts about its servers and gives users full liberty to choose their desired server and surf the internet. Performance of these servers varies, however, the software depicts the fastest server nearby for utmost performance.

The HMA VPN client automatically tracks the geo-location of the user and suggests a speedy server in the region. This feature encourages the user to surf the internet at blazing fast speed while being secure with a reliable VPN service.

Without further ado let’s test HMA servers in terms of speed.

HideMyAss Server Speed Test

HMA is famous for its server speed, so we thought let’s give it a test. We tested HideMyAss VPN on a 100MB internet connection and were pretty satisfied by the results.

US Server

Ping: 101ms

Download: 55.87Mbps

Upload: 31.32Mbps

UK Server

Ping: 42ms

Download: 62.49Mbps  

Upload: 39.42Mbps

Asian Server

Ping: 145ms

Download: 58Mbps

Upload: 26Mbps

European Server

Ping: 40ms

Download: 64Mbps  

Upload: 43Mbps

HMA Silent Features

• Connection Log

A connection log includes Frequency of connection, Time of connection to the VPN, Duration of each session, volume received or transferred and the IP address assigned by the VPN provider. Where most VPNs only show the status of the connection, HMA provides you with a connection log.

• Speed Guide

The VPN client also shows a speed guide which suggests the fastest server available. Although this feature tracks a user’s geo-location but it comes in real handy when someone is in a hurry.

• Customer Support

HMA offers two kinds of support for their customers who include email and live chat. The email support takes 1-3 hours usually, while live chat support is swift and quick.

• Unlimited Bandwidth

HMA offers unlimited bandwidth with ultra high speed to give their users the best experience on the internet.

HideMyAss VPN Protocols – Is HMA Secure?

PPTP

A point-to-point Tunneling protocol is an old VPN protocol which leverages MPPE 128-bit cipher for encryption. PPTP is notorious for being the fastest VPN protocol as it uses low-end encryption for data security.

L2TP

L2TP stands for Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol; it is supported by VPN HMA. It leverages the 3DES/AES algorithm which is combined with IPSec for AES 256 Encryption. 

OpenVPN

HideMyAss VPN offers OpenVPN encryption protocol for both TCP and UDP.

HideMyAss VPN Client For Windows

HideMyAss VPN offers a plain and simple windows application with a user-friendly interface. After subscribing for HMA VPN, all you need to do is to download and install the VPN client, and off you go. Setting up HMA on desktop merely takes 5 minutes; it is designed in a way that it can be installed with minimum clicks possible.

HideMyAss VPN Client For Mac OS

HMA has a software client for the latest Mac OSX. It also has customized clients for previous versions as well. The new Mac client for OSX by HMA is most simple compared with previous ones. It has a 1—click install option for quick installation. 

HideMyAss VPN Application For Android

HMA’s dedicated app for Android users is now compatible with devices having Android 4.0 or above. It is a multi-language app which is available for free on Google Play Store. So, what are you waiting for? Buy HMA VPN subscription and download their Android application and surf the internet with full anonymity.

HideMyAss VPN Application For iOS

HideMyAss Pro VPN app for iPhone is nothing different from its Android counterpart. It gives the liberty to choose the VPN server and also allows its users to select which VPN protocol they want to go with.

HMA Logging Policy – Full of Controversial History

HideMyAss VPN confirm that they log the following information;

• Username
• Amount of data being used (Download and Upload)
• The real IP address of the user.
• Fake IP Address awarded to the user by the VPN itself.
• Connection and disconnection timing.

HMA claims that they collect the above-mentioned details just in case if someone commits unlawful activity. HMA also tracks if some are;

• Spamming or sharing illicit material.
•   Committing fraud (Credit Cards etc.)

HMA has been in some controversies previously which are as follows.

Back in 2011, HMA handed over personal data and browsing records of one of its customers, Cody Kretsinger, to the police. Kretsinger accused of hacking the Sony Pictures website and received a prison sentence due to his involvement.

Last year, a similar incident took place in Galveston County, Texas, when HMA handed over evidence of a disgraced judge to Texas Police. The culprit was arrested and forced out of office in an attempt to harass an ex-girlfriend.

HideMyAss is a UK-based VPN, a country that follows mandatory data-retention laws – means the possibility of data-logging is certainly there. The company keeps data-logs including user activity, IP address, session durations, and IP address of the VPN server they connect to. This data stored for two-three months; for some, this is not a big deal but for some, it’s a deal-breaker.

Conclusion

Having spent almost a decade in the industry, HideMyAss VPN is quite popular among the masses across the globe with its great design and remarkably easy-to-use paradigms. The best thing about this VPN is the servers’ geographical diversity; so if you need VPN servers in Cook Islands, Equatorial Guinea, or host any other unusual location, then HMA is the only option available. However, the company logging policy is not ideal.  No wonder, it is considered as the undisputed King of the VPN world, but still trusting a British VPN to ensure privacy is yet uncertain; anything can happen to you anytime, your data would use to threaten you.