November 2025

the Rise and Fall

*sponsored by DeleteMe​

what happened to ExpressVPN?

Mass layoffs. Constant leadership transition. Internal chaos and lack of vision. I've been using and recommending ExpressVPN for over a decade and now...well, you'll have to watch the video to understand where it all went wrong.

​the Rise and Fall of ExpressVPN​

Go Deeper: The world is always changing, which includes the threats we face and the tools we use. It's hard to "change your mind" for stuff you recommend, but it's not the first time this has happened. Here are two examples of how this often takes place:

Acquisition Sometimes a privacy tool can get acquired by another company. ​The Story of Skiff→​

Breach of Trust Although not a privacy tool, 23andMe showed how to erode public trust. ​23andMe DNA exposed →​

is it all about the money?

Hi [CORRECTED_NAME GOES HERE], I remember back in 2021 when the announcement was made that ExpressVPN was bought by Kape Technologies. The news was surprising, but not nearly as shocking as what they bought it for:

$936 MILLION!

It was a huge payday for the owners and investors, but from this moment on, users of ExpressVPN saw a rapid decline in quality of service.

Clearly, the new owners only cared about milking the recurring revenue and had no desire to improve or innovate with the brand.

It's interesting because this whole conversation about money runs parallel to another part of this VPN industry: affiliates.

I won't go too deep into this right now (go watch the video instead), but there are a couple things I've learned over the years about how money influences the "recommendation" economy:

• I believe that being compensated for a product sale (affiliate) does NOT corrupt a recommendation. It's actually not about the money; it's about trust. Do you trust the person who is making the recommendation?
• I don't believe that NOT being affiliate makes your recommendation immediately trustworthy.
• In spite of all this, there has obviously been TOO MUCH money at stake in the VPN world, which is why it's felt so sleazy over the past decade.

ExpressVPN was the king of VPNs back in the day, but they were also the ones that were throwing money everywhere. Now they've had their payday...and the service has taken a nosedive.

Coincidence? I think not.

Sponsored by:

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This Week in Privacy News

​have you made this change on X/Twitter (Nov 10 deadline)​

As part of the company's efforts to formally retire the Twitter doamin (seriously?), users who secure their X account with a passkey or Yubikey are being warned to re-enroll by November 10th or risk getting locked out of their account.

--> X.com/Safety/status/1981764501947953225

​​
​​AI is a bug bounty hunter now?​

Google's artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cybersecurity agent called Big Sleep has been credited by Apple for discovering as many as five different security flaws in the WebKit component used in its Safari web browser. Will we eventually require AI to fight AI?

--> Thehackernews.com/2025/11/googles-ai-big-sleep-finds-5-new.html
​

​have you encrypted your WhatsApp Backup?​

Sure, your current chats on WhatsApp may be end-to-end encrypted, but what about your chat backups? According to the company, it's now an easy setting to change.

--> Blog.whatsapp.com/encrypting-your-whatsapp-chat-backup-just-got-easier

Your Thoughts?

Do you still use a VPN? If so, I'd be curious to hear which one you trust and why. Just hit reply and write out a quick sentence or two.

✌️

Josh

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3824 Cedar Springs Rd #801-8170, Dallas, TX 75219
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