Turbo VPN is a popular free VPN that also offers plenty of paid subscription plans. However, its most popular version is the free one, where users get unlimited bandwidth and 3 server locations without having to pay a single dollar.
The provider is especially prevalent on iOS and Android, where it has millions of downloads and reviews. In spite of all of that, is Turbo VPN safe and secure? Will this VPN be a great choice for ensuring your online privacy?
How safe and anonymous it is? Well, today’s article will give you answers to all of these questions, as we inspect its security feature, privacy policy, and everything else related to its safety. By the way, we also have a full, in-depth Turbo VPN review which we’ve written recently. By clicking on the link above, you can check it out and find out everything you should know about the service. For now, let’s see if Turbo VPN is safe and secure through our detailed analysis.
Is Turbo VPN Safe to Use? Security Features Examined
Let’s start this analysis by talking about the security features you can find in its application. If you go for its paid version, you’ll have plenty of features to work with. However, its free version is fairly limited, so the majority of the features you see in the app will be locked behind the paywall.
Still, let’s mention some of them in case you decide to get this service.
AES-256 Encryption
The provider uses 256-bit AES encryption, which is the strongest encryption you can get. This type of encryption is here in both paid and free versions, so even if you’re not paying for the service, you will get the highest level of protection possible.
Kill Switch
Another feature I value is an automatic kill switch. As many people know, a VPN kill switch disables all traffic if you lose your VPN connection, which ensures there aren’t any IP leaks that could jeopardize your privacy. This feature is great but it’s kept reserved for premium users.
Thus, if you’re a free user, every VPN connection loss poses a threat to your privacy without the kill switch to jump in. Keep this in mind if you want to use this free VPN on iPad, Windows PC, or any other platform.
Choice of Several Protocols
Is Turbo VPN safe and secure in terms of the protocols it offers? Well, you could say so. In total, there are four protocols to choose from, which include OpenVPN, IKEv2, V2ray, and SSR. OpenVPN and IKEv2 are tried-and-tested solutions for the balance of performance and security.
V2ray isn’t a very popular protocol but Turbo VPN claims that it’s a high-speed solution that isn’t compatible with all devices. SSR, on the other hand, focuses on stability and speeds without the ability to work in all network environments.
We don’t like that Turbo VPN doesn’t offer WireGuard, for example, which would’ve been an ideal case to cover both the performance AND security.
Private DNS
To make things even better, Turbo VPN uses its in-house DNS service. Third-party, usually free DNS services, will monitor your traffic and collect your personal data, which is later sold to third parties. When Virtual Private Networks offer their DNS services, it’s another story.
In this case, your traffic is routed through that DNS server, which eliminates the third-party influence and makes it impossible to track your online activities. Sadly, this provider isn’t a VPN that stores no logs, so we found the presence of Private DNS pretty much pointless.
WiFi Protection
Last but not least, the provider offers WiFi Protection, a feature that automatically enables a VPN when you’ve connected to public, unknown WiFi networks. Does it work? Absolutely. However, the level of security you get is questionable, as we’ll soon see in the next section of the article.
Does Turbo VPN Store Logs? Analysis of Its Privacy Policy & Jurisdiction
The next question is – is Turbo VPN safe and secure in terms of logging? To answer this question, we first need to analyze its jurisdiction and then talk about logging practices.
Where Is Turbo VPN Based?
The company that owns Turbo VPN is based in Singapore and goes by the name Innovative Connecting.
Singapore isn’t in the 5 Eyes alliance but it cooperates with 5 Eyes countries in government surveillance, data collection, and data sharing. This is a big red flag from the get-go, as it puts the provider in privacy-unfriendly territory.
Moreover, the alarming factor is that the director of Innovative Connecting is a Chinese national, which implies that the service has ties to Mainland China. As you can guess, China isn’t a country that respects your privacy and is, in fact, one of the bigger proponents of government surveillance and censorship.
Is Turbo VPN Safe in Terms of Logging Practices?
Taking a look at its privacy policy, we can see some great and some not-so-great things about the VPN. First, the provider doesn’t seem to store information related to your browsing history, DNS queries, and other compromising bits of data – take a look below.
Judging by the fact that there aren’t bits of info like the websites you visit, timestamps, and so forth, you’d think the provider is completely safe and secure. However, if we take a look at which information is stored on the servers, things are a bit different.
For maintenance purposes, the provider collects some connection data, such as the VPN location that you’re using, your country, and the name of your ISP in an abstracted form. It also logs the amount of data you transferred and a few other bits of information for diagnostics and analysis.
This amount of information isn’t redundant by any means. In the NordVPN test and review, I showed you that this provider stores very few bits of data necessary for the service to function. Turbo VPN, on the other hand, goes beyond just a few mandatory logs.
Plus, it’s based in Singapore with its father company’s director being a Chinese national. With that in mind, is Turbo VPN safe and secure? The answer is NO – but we’ve another test on our hands.
IP & DNS Leak Tests: Let’s See if There Are Any Leaks
Turbo VPN offers just three server locations if you’re a free user. The bad news is that they’re extremely unreliable and won’t always give you the IP address you want. For example, I used a German server at one point and IP-checking sites showed that I have a French IP instead.
When visiting the site ipleak.net without using a VPN, you can see that my original IP address is based in Serbia. But for privacy reasons, I’ve hidden it.
Now, when using Turbo VPN’s US server and going on ipleak.net, the results were seemingly fine.
However, when I checked another website called browserleaks.net, I noticed something strange.
As you can see, this site detected my original public IP despite me being connected to the US server of Turbo VPN. This indeed shows us that the provider isn’t fully capable of preserving your privacy and with the leak that I detected, the situation is quite alarming if you rely on this service too much.
So Is Turbo VPN Safe to Use?
Okay, so after our thorough analysis, can we consider Turbo VPN as safe and secure? Unfortunately, Turbo VPN isn’t safe and you shouldn’t use it if privacy is your priority. Its features are locked behind the paywall, which is the first bad sign.
Then, there’s the connection to Mainland China, suspicious logging practices, and a clear IP leak when using the server in America. All of this tells us one thing – avoid this provider at all costs! If you want a good free VPN, check out our ProtonVPN review.
Conversely, you can get a premium VPN like NordVPN and use it for 30 days for free thanks to a money-back guarantee. This provider is 100% safe and secure with no chance of leaking your IP/DNS addresses. The same could be said about ExpressVPN, which isn’t the cheapest but is an extremely secure Virtual Private Network.
In any case, all of the aforementioned providers are way better than Turbo VPN in both of its versions (paid and free) and thus, they should be your choice for ensuring the online privacy you want.
