Opera recently announced that it’s been working on a major update to the Opera browser’s built-in VPN, which enables the feature when connected to public Wi-Fi networks, alongside a milestone celebration of the service’s tenth anniversary. Opera’s Santiago Benavides García comments:
We’ve had a free VPN built into the browser since 2016. It doesn’t ask you for an account, it doesn’t have a bandwidth limit, and it doesn’t cost anything. We did it that way because we believe that you should be in control of the way you see and reach the web. After ten years, some browsers have integrated something similar, albeit in different ways.
…Public Wi-Fi networks often carry additional security risks and it’s always a good idea to use a VPN when you’re connected to them. But let’s be honest, it’s normal to forget to turn your VPN on when you’re coming from a long trip to an airport, or when you just want to work through the afternoon from a cafe – your mind is somewhere else and that’s okay, we got you.
That said, the new feature addresses the security vulnerabilities of public networks by automatically activating the VPN whenever a user connects to unsecured public Wi-Fi. The function requires a one-time activation through the browser settings under Settings, VPN, and toggling on “Always use VPN on Public WiFi.” The new setting will initially arrive in France and the United States, and will expand to additional regions in the future.
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Opera adds that security and privacy credentials for the service are backed by a 2024 third-party audit from Deloitte which confirms its strict no-log policy, and a 2022 code evaluation by cybersecurity firm Cure53.