Is FreeexpressVPN Chrome safe?
FreeexpressVPN Chrome has no VPN/proxy function and sends the active tab's URL to a third-party geolocation API on every popup open.
Despite its name and description promising a free VPN/proxy that hides and changes your IP, the extension requests no proxy permission and never calls Chrome's proxy APIs. Instead, opening the popup automatically reads the active tab's URL and sends it, unencrypted over plain HTTP, to api.positionbox.com to populate cosmetic 'geolocation' fields in the UI. The only other function is an affiliate link that redirects users to ExpressVPN's real signup page with tracking parameters.
Rated medium risk because of who publishes it: 1 of the 2 other listings from the same operator is rated high or critical for malicious behavior. Flagged: Freezen MateVPN for Chrome (high).
Who publishes itFreeTools - 2 other listings from the same operator, 1 of them carrying a finding
FreeTools - 2 other listings from the same operator, 1 of them carrying a finding
What this publisher told the store about itself, and the other listings that told it the same thing.
Same store account
2 other listings published from this account, 70k+ users between them. 1 of them carries a finding.
AI-generated. Findings may contain errors. Those marked Verified have been manually reviewed.
Publishers can request a review.
What it can do
Permissions this extension asks for, as declared in version 2.1. Asking for a permission is not a finding on its own - it is what the extension can do if it chooses to.
Read and change your data on every site you visit
http://*/*
Read and change your data on every secure site you visit
https://*/*
See the address and title of every tab you have open
tabs
Where it sends data
Destinations our analysis observed FreeexpressVPN Chrome contacting. Sending data somewhere is not a finding on its own - an extension that syncs your settings has to talk to its own server - but it is where your data can go, and who else it goes to.
- api.positionbox.com
FreeexpressVPN Chrome sends data to api.positionbox.com. No other extension we have analyzed sends data here.