Edward Snowden releases statement against using ExpressVPN on his Twitter: Here's Why

Former computer intelligence consultant, Edward Snowden recently reached out to the tech community after posting a Tweet against using ExpressVPN. The former NSA whistleblower released a statement against the VPN service providers after one of their executives was charged in connection with a government hacking ring. Project Raven was a code name given to this project that took place in the UAE to perform surveillance on high-influence American targets. After hearing this, Edward told his followers, “If you’re an ExpressVPN customer, you shouldn’t be.” Read more to know about Edward Snowden and ExpressVPN. 

Edward Snowden releases statement against using ExpressVPN: See Why

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) of ExpressVPN, Daniel Gericke recently was named to be one of the three former U.S. intelligence operatives who has now confirmed to not fight the charges of illegally helping UAE hack individuals' systems as part of Project Raven. The information was verified after a set of the Department of Justice's court documents confirmed that Daniel Gericke was a member of the Project Raven team. The information from these documents also verified that the projects allowed hackers to carry out surveillance on American targets including the state heads, well-known personalities, and activists.

The information was also confirmed after an investigative journalist, Joseph Menn released a public Tweet about Daniel Gericke’s involvement in Project Raven. ExpressVPN also released several Tweets about this incident and said, “To be completely clear, as much as we value Daniel’s expertise & how it has helped us to protect customers, we do not condone Project Raven. The surveillance it represents is completely antithetical to our mission.”  Another Tweet from the VPN service providers read, “We find it deeply regrettable that the news of the past few days regarding Daniel has created concerns among our users & given some cause to question our commitment to our core values.” Here is the full statement released by ExpressVPN. 

Who is Edward Snowden?

Edward Snowden is a former computer intelligence consultant who gained popularity after leaking some highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA). During this time, Edward Snowden was working as a subcontractor for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) but had to quit his job for releasing the information to the public. After leaking NSA's classified information, the United States Department of Justice unsealed charges against him which included two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property. After struggling to get out of the country, Snowden was later rescued by Russia when he was granted the right of asylum with an initial visa and finally a permanent residency in 2020.