Best VPN for Hong Kong in 2019

Though Hong Kong is not subject to the same internet censorship as the rest of China, there are concerns about government monitoring online activity. Political content, in particular, can put you at risk of having your emails and activity monitored.

By using a VPN, you can prevent these breaches of your privacy and protect your anonymity. VPNs work by changing your IP address and encrypting your information, giving you unlimited access and total privacy.

Top 3 VPNs for Hong Kong

Before looking at what the top 3 VPNs for use in Hong Kong are, it makes sense to learn exactly what a VPN is so that they can be compared for user suitability more easily.

Simply put VPNs are Virtual Private Networks. They work by putting you through an encrypted tunnel on the internet and routing your connection off of a remote server. In addition, the company will also provide you with an alternate IP address, bypassing regional content blocks altogether.  This means that not only is your connection secure, but your privacy is guaranteed, and there’s no way for anyone to pinpoint your location.

To make it onto our list of recommendations, therefore, VPN providers need to be able to provide:

• Top quality encryption techniques
• A wide and large selection of servers
• A vast number of alternate IP addresses

#1: ExpressVPN

Whether security or accessibility is your main concern, ExpressVPN has you covered both ways. Their IP address concealment opens up your access from every corner of the world given that they have with servers in 78 countries around the globe. So if you want to access geo-restricted content while in Hong Kong, ExpressVPN should be your first port of call. However, it also has a whole host of other features that set it apart from its competition.

• Customer service – Where ExpressVPN really rises above the competition, is with their customer service, which is fantastic news for those that are based in Hong Kong especially given their 24/7 support so that subscribers do not have to wait for Western opening times. With ExpressVPN, you’ll get awesome features like:
  • live chat and email channels
  • average e-mail response time of less than 30 minutes
• Money back guarantee – ExpressVPN also has an unheard of 30 day money back guarantee, where you can receive a full refund if you’re not happy for any reason. If you love their service though, be sure to tell a friend, because you can both get a month of free service through their awesome referral program.
• Multi device compatibility – ExpressVPN’s software is compatible with every major operating system, and can even be used on up to three devices simultaneously. If you need protection on both a home and mobile device when in HongKong, this is the VPN for you.

Ultimately, ExpressVPN also has some of the strongest encryption on the web, with the use of 256 Bit AES encryption techniques, amongst other strong protocols. This is great news to keep you safe from government surveillance when in Hong Kong. For the most comprehensive VPN service available, check out ExpressVPN. And make dure to read our full ExpressVPN review

#2: TunnelBear

This VPN service promises not to keep any logs of your online movements including the sites you visit as well as the IP addresses used to visit those sites. It will only log meta-data which is needed to get maximum performance for users. With 1,800 servers, TunnelBear admittedly doesn’t offer as many as some of the other VPN services do, but this is a large enough number to have all your needs covered.

• Great compatibility – TunnelBear allows and supports P2P activities and is compatible with all leading platforms including Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. There is also the option to use the VPN service on your Chrome, Firefox, and Opera browsers.
• Complete security – Enjoy military-grade protection as well as tunneling protocols which include IPsec, IKEv2 and OpenVPN for maximum security. RememBear is an added feature that will automatically fill in your passwords so you don’t have to remember them all at each login.
• Free version available – There is a freemium version available which is a very rare thing for reputable VPN companies to offer their customers. Granted you will only get 500MB which you can go through in just a few days when streaming, but you can always get an extra 1GB if you say nice things about TunnelBear on Twitter. If you decide to go for the paid version, there is a very lucrative one year deal that will save you 50% on what you would normally pay for the monthly plan.

You can pay for this service with all the major credit cards as well as using Bitcoin which will ensure complete anonymity. As it states on their website, you can also pay for your TunnelBear subscription with jars of honey, but we’re not sure where to send those.

Keep yourself out of a sticky situation with this great VPN. Read more about Tunnelbear in our expert review.

TunnelBear is here.

#3: ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN was created a number of years ago by the people responsible for ProtonMail, the largest secure email system in the world. This VPN is based in Switzerland and is known for its easily understood and strict no-logging policy. You can choose from one of four plans beginning with a free option.

• Unlimited Free VPN – This is one of the few VPN services that offer a free VPN service to their customers. What makes things even more interesting is that there are no bandwidth or speed limits placed on their free plan. You are limited as to the number of locations you can connect to, but the servers in Japan, Netherlands and the US will still keep you secure. When signing up to this free option you will be asked whether you would like to try out the ProtonVPN Plus plan for seven days, no credit card required.
• Zero logs – Whilst many VPNs say this, over 30% of them have suspicious privacy policies. ProtonVPN is definitely not part of this group, making it clear that they will not record any of your online movements, bar timestamps, and login attempts. “ProtonVPN respects its users’ privacy and enforces a No Logs policy. This means your VPN connections remain private and we do not store information about your connections or the websites you visit.”
• Strong Protection – You can count on state of the art military grade protection as well as IKEV2, IPSec and OpenVPN protocols to keep things completely private. Another cool feature offered is Secure Core which reroutes your traffic through multiple servers acting as a double VPN connection.

Payment can be made with a credit card or through your PayPal account, and because this is completed by a third party, ProtonVPN will not even have your billing information on their records. For those wishing to use Bitcoin for extra protection, that is also an option.

Although not having as many servers as some of the other big names in the VPN game, ProtonVPN is certainly catching up to the competition and is definitely worth checking out.

ProtonVPN is here.

So Why Can’t I Access Anything In Hong Kong?

Hong Kong is a bit of anomaly in China. It doesn’t fall under the same rules as the rest of the country, since it’s a Special Administrative Region (SAR).

While they definitely don’t have the same strict internet censorship as the rest of China, Hong Kong internet users are still subject to some surveillance, particularly if they’re accessing political content.

Regardless of your intentions on the internet, if this makes you a little uneasy and you plan on spending some time in Hong Kong, consider signing up for a VPN before you go.

In this article, we look at the top VPNs to use when in Hong Kong that will mean that you never have to worry about having your anonymity exposed or your privacy breached.

Privacy Laws and Regulations Surrounding Using A VPN in Hong Kong

As previously mentioned, Hong Kong has less stringent internet usage laws than the rest of China – where the censorship laws are exceedingly strong and many websites or apps are banned from common day to day use. That being said VPNs are actually legal to use in China as well as Hong Kong.

The difficulties arise when it comes to what a person uses a VPN for. A Chinese citizen or someone simply visiting China, is still not meant to access censored content. If they do, they are breaking the law so that if they are caught, they are subject to punishment that have been dictated by the Chinese government. Using a VPN to access that censored content just makes a person that much more difficult to find in the first place by the authorities.

Despite its more relaxed laws when it comes to the internet, the same is true of Hong Kong. While Hong Kong is outside the Great Fire Wall, there is still activity that people partake in online that is illegal. Even if users employ a VPN to stay anonymous and more difficult to find by authorities, they are still breaking the law if they access content that is deemed illegal or if they conduct hacking activities.

Using A VPN To Stream Content Restricted to Hong Kong

Citizens of Hong Kong may want to use a VPN when they leave the city so that they can still access content from streaming services that they use when at home. This content could well be restricted when they leave Hong Kong, so a VPN is vital if they want to circumnavigate those blocks. For instance, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus all have subscription services available in Hong Kong. This means that its users may be addicted to a box set or movie franchise that one of those services has the rights to, but is unavailable with any IP address that is not linked to Hong Kong.

Conclusion

Sadly enough, government snooping is just as much of a concern as hacking and identity theft these days. Though Hong Kong is definitely much more free in terms of internet censorship than the rest of China, there is still a concern that political activity is monitored.

Even if you’re just watching Netflix, it’s a good idea to use a VPN to protect yourself from both the prying eyes of the Chinese government, as well as potential hackers and identity thieves.

The best VPN will give you unlimited access to all of your favorite content, and make your connection incredibly secure. It will also ensure your online activity stays totally anonymous.

And that’s exactly what you get with ExpressVPN along with very easy to use software, multiple connections, and great customer service.