HideMyAss Review

HideMyAss is now a true log-free VPN provider , which in short eliminated the registration policy that at some point was its main drawback.

This means that HMA does not collect or "log" any data that can be used to identify you in your online activities. Your activity will remain private to you and hidden from HideMyAss.

HideMyAss collects only the following information:

• Date of connection : it also records whether you connect in the morning or at night
• Amount of data transmitted during your session : this data is rounded to the nearest hundred MB

Here is the information as it appears in the HideMyAss privacy policy:

The limited amount of data that HMA records is aggregated and not tied to any specific user. This fact has been verified by renowned cybersecurity consulting firm VerSprite , after an audit of HMA systems.

The firm gave HideMyAss a "low risk user privacy impact rating," the best feasible rating. Third-party security audits are great for users as they provide real evidence of a VPN's activities, so you don't have to trust what the VPN service says.

The only personal information that HideMyAss keeps is your email address and username, which is standard practice among VPNs. The important is that HMA's no-log policy prevents your online activity from being linked to you .

Despite the improvement, this is a VPN service with an extremely poor track record. If you primarily want to use a VPN to protect your anonymity and privacy, you should still avoid HideMyAss until its safety has been verified. If you are a streamer who only wants to access US Netflix and BBC iPlayer, this is still a good option for you.

HMA is based in the UK

HideMyAss launched its first subscription-based VPN service in 2009 under the ownership of parent company Privax Ltd.

The popularity of the VPN led AVG, a Czech antivirus company, to acquire it for up to $ 60 million in 2015 . AVG, in turn, was purchased by Avast , another Czech antivirus firm, in 2016.

Although its parent company is based in the Czech Republic, Privax Ltd still in the UK .

The United Kingdom is a terrible base for a VPN provider due to their intrusive data retention laws now encrypted by the UK Investigative Powers Act, or the 'Letter from the Snooper', as it is popularly known.

The Snoopers Charter enables the following:

• Massive data collection . The security services are authorized to have access to electronic communications. In some circumstances, this can be done even without a court order.
• Device encryption removal . The government is legally empowered to force ISPs, communications providers, and technology companies to engineer deliberate encryption weaknesses and encryption back doors in their products.
• Massive piracy . Law enforcement agencies can eavesdrop on communications by hacking phones, computers, and any other communication device.

The UK is also a member of the Five Eyes Alliance (FVEY), an international intelligence-sharing arrangement designed to compile and share surveillance data among the world's most powerful nations.

HideMyAss is bound by all intelligence sharing agreements contained in the Snoopers Letter and admits that it will provide information to law enforcement if necessary.

HideMyAss shared user data with law enforcement

Unfortunately HideMyAss has an extremely poor registration history. In one case, a member of the hacktivist group Anonymous was successfully arrested after HMA provided the FBI with access to connection logs following a court order from the UK.

In 2017, a Texas judge was arrested for stalking and harassment. He was a HideMyAss user whose identity was discovered through connection timestamps .

HideMyAss has done everything possible to justify this behavior, but understandably seen as a huge breach of trust for most VPN users.

Nonetheless, all instances in which the company transmitted information to law enforcement agencies occurred under the old VPN privacy policy . The VPN service previously logged sensitive data such as user IP addresses and precise connection timestamps, making it easier for law enforcement to find a specific HMA user based on their online activities.

HMA's new no-logs privacy policy will prevent any duplication of user identities from being compromised. Since the VPN no longer retains any data, it doesn't have any information to pass on.

A robust no-logs policy generally can offset the problem of a privacy-disrespectful jurisdiction, but real-world testing and third-party audits will be needed to restore our trust in HMA as a primary tool for privacy and anonymity. . If privacy is your main concern, we do not suggest this VPN.

HideMyAss demonstrated very fast speeds in our tests, placing it right on top of the best performing VPN services. Our download speeds only dropped very slightly, from 99 Mbps to 96 Mbps when connecting to a nearby server. This is a percentage speed loss of only the 3% .

International speeds were some of the best VPN speeds we've seen and connection times were excellent at around 70 Mbps seconds for most locations.

Latency was also impressively low, averaging 5ms for most locations, making it an ideal VPN for gamers.

This is a very impressive result for local and international speeds and places HMA in the top percentile of commercial VPNs. Its performance was stable, which means that it is capable of handling data-intensive tasks like HD streaming, gaming, and video conferencing without a hitch.

All HMA VPN apps also come with a handy 'Lightning Connect' feature that automatically connects you to the fastest server based on distance and server load.

If you privilege the fastest VPN speeds above all else, make sure to always connect with this button.

We compare our internet download speeds before and after connecting to a nearby HideMyAss server. This enables us to see precisely how much HMA slows down our internet connection when we are connected to the closest location.

Our download speeds dropped only a 3% when connected to HMA, from 99 Mbps to 96 Mbps. You can expect similar results when connecting to a nearby server.

These speed test results are truly impressive. HMA compares very well to some of the best VPNs on the market when it comes to local speeds, which means that no matter what you choose to do when running HMA, it won't slow down.

Global speed test results

We also tested HMA's long-distance performance by choosing a small group of test servers in the US, Germany, Singapore, and Australia.

We test VPN speeds using a 100Mbps internet connection, giving us accurate average speeds when connecting to various locations globally.

International speeds were some of the best we've seen and connection times were excellent, around 70 Mbps seconds for most locations.

Naturally, HideMyAss VPN speeds start to drop when connecting to distant locations. Despite everything, its performance remains excellent. Download speeds in Germany were hardly affected (just a slower 2%), while connections to the US averaged 65 Mbps. Even Australia, the most distant server we tested, performed admirably at 44 Mbps.

Below are the average speeds we saw when connecting to these locations from London, UK, with a 100 Mbps internet connection:

USA (New York): 

• Download: 72 Mbps (27% slower) 
• Upload: 74 Mbps (slowest 25%) 

Germany (Munich): 

• Download: 97 Mbps (2% slower)
• Upload: 90Mbps (slowest 8%)

Singapore :

• Download: 30 Mbps (slower 70%)
• Upload: 33 Mbps (slowest 66%)

Australia (Melbourne): 

• Download: 49 Mbps (51% slower)
• Upload: 31 Mbps (slowest 68%)

Speed is undoubtedly one of HMA's strengths. It is one of the fastest VPNs we've tested ; If you're looking for solid, reliable performance for streaming or surfing abroad, it's definitely a highlight to consider HideMyAss.

How fast is HideMyAss compared to other VPNs?

To make sure our speed test results are as accurate as possible, we also tested HideMyAss and 17 other popular VPNs using our bespoke VPN speed test tool . These tests run every six hours, and we report the results as we find them, eliminating the opportunity for any bias.

The graph below compares HideMyAss's average internet speed loss to other popular VPNs while running on our New York server .

Use our speed test tool to compare HideMyAss speeds in different cities.

We found HideMyAss to be one of the fastest VPN services on the market. When connecting to a local VPN server from New York, HideMyAss is consistently one of the best performing VPNs, with a download speed 90 Mbps average .

As you can see, HideMyAss speeds remain stable and consistent throughout the eight weeks, while other providers struggle to maintain a reliable connection.

HMA speed test function

After being removed in 2017, one of our favorite HideMyAss features in short is back in V5.

HMA's speed test tool enables you to check download speed and ping multiple HideMyAss VPN server locations before connecting. This takes the guesswork out and ensures that you connect to the fastest VPN server possible.

This is a really useful feature for Netflix streamers who want to watch a movie or TV show that is not available in their region. With the HMA speed test, you can make sure you connect to the best VPN server for unbuffered streaming.

To verify the validity of the HMA speed test tool, we verified the data with our own manual speed tests and the results were almost identical.

Only a few other VPN providers offer this feature and this is by far the most advanced and comprehensive we've seen.

HideMyAss is a great VPN for unblocking streaming content. Constantly unblock geo-restrictions on services including Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Amazon Prime Video.

HideMyAss has dedicated servers exclusively for the most popular streaming services, making access to US Netflix and BBC iPlayer as simple as possible.

These dedicated streaming servers are some of the most reliable we've tested, so you'll be able to access your favorite streaming sites without a hitch.

They are also very easy to find in the application and are always available through the sidebar. This makes switching between the US, UK and German Netflix libraries extremely easy.

Regardless, these streaming servers are obviously not tagged, so we have identified them for you.

• Liberty island enables you to unlock US Netflix . USA .
• Donkey town successfully unlock BBC iPlayer .

Along with its ability to unlock major streaming services, the download speeds formidably fast of HMA they mean streaming Netflix and BBC iPlayer is also fast and buffer-free.

Regardless, we want HideMyAss to be able to unblock Disney +, since many other VPN providers can do this without any hassle.

Is HMA VPN good for torrenting?

HideMyAss is not recommended for torrenting due to its previous abuse of user privacy and your history of cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

In the past, HMA users announced that their accounts were also suspended for violating the laws of the Digital Millennium Copyright Law (DMCA).  

After contacting a HideMyAss representative, we were told that the new registration policy means that HMA "has no mechanism to identify individual users after a DMCA report."

Regardless, HMA's stance on torrents is confusing and confusing. A different representative from HideMyAss confirmed that downloading copyrighted material from torrents goes in against the VPN terms of service , and threatened that this would result in the suspension of his HMA account.

HideMyAss should offer a lot more clarity here. In all other respects, it is a good choice for torrent users thanks to its fast speeds and variety of server locations. Torrenting of copyrighted material is enabled on all HideMyAss servers, and dedicated servers are available for P2P sharing, enabling quick selection and seeding.

These dedicated torrent servers are also beautifully organized in their own section of the app, making them easily accessible at all times.

Regardless, there is a limited selection of seven dedicated P2P server locations available, mostly since there is no close option for torrent users outside of Europe and North America.

Given its history of DMCA requests and a company-wide policy against copyrighted torrenting, we cannot safely recommend HMA for P2P activity. If you plan to use a VPN primarily for torrenting, we recommend that you check out our recommendations for the best VPNs for anonymous torrents. These services combine privacy policies of minimal logging, the fastest VPN speeds, and a global server network.

HideMyAss accepts a good variety of payment alternatives, including:

• Major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express)
• UnionPay
• PayPal
• Alipay (Alipay)

HMA also offers a 30 day money back guarantee , which is not really a question. This means that even if you use unlimited bandwidth and on an unlimited number of devices, you are still eligible for a full cash back. You will need to complete the money refund request form .

In spite of everything, no you can get a refund of the money if you pay through the App Store or Google Play. Therefore, if you want the option to change your mind, it is better to buy the VPN directly from HMA.

Automatic subscription renewal is available by default, so if you do not want to renew, you will need to cancel your subscription in the members area of the web portal.

HideMyAss Free Trial

HideMyAss offers a 7-day free trial , making it easy for you to try it out without paying anything.

Unlike other free trials, HMA gives you access to all your server locations, offers unlimited bandwidth, and doesn't slow down.

As you try all the features HideMyAss has to offer, such as its dedicated servers for streaming and torrenting, you will be protected by the same unbreakable AES-256 encryption that is provided in the paid plan. 

The HMA free trial also enables you to connect five devices simultaneously, so you can use and test the VPN on all of your devices.

Be careful though, if you don't cancel before the end of your trial period, you will be charged $ 83.88 for an annual subscription . 

If this concerns you, we recommend that you avoid the trial period entirely and take advantage of the 30-day money-back guarantee from HMA . This enables you to examine HideMyAss credentials for a longer period of time, while also enabling you to pay the lowest price if you keep it.

HideMyAss is the leading VPN for choice of VPN server locations, with over 1,100 VPN servers in 190 countries. This means that the 96% from every country in the world is covered.

It also offers dedicated servers for streaming and downloading torrents, which are labeled separately within the application interface.

HMA's wide variety of servers makes it an especially good VPN if you're away from typical VPN server locations like Western Europe and the US. 

We were especially impressed to see that HideMyAss covers regions of Africa and the Middle East much better than any other VPN provider we have tested.

If you are in one of these regions, nearby HMA servers mean that your connection is not routed by servers located far away, resulting in better performance and faster speeds. 

Most of the other VPN providers boast of their large number of servers, even though most of them are concentrated in Europe and North America. We are very happy to see that HMA has beaten the trend here.

HideMyAss also has a remarkable number of city-level server locations, including:

• Australia (2)
• Canada (3)
• France (2)
• Germany (2)
• Russia (2)
• Spain (2)
• United Kingdom (2)
• US (65)

The benefit of city-level servers is less congestion and faster speeds. 

Regardless, it is regrettable that HMA has chosen to place its servers at the city level in the usual countries. We also intend to have city-level servers in Asia, Africa and South America.

Virtual server locations

HideMyAss can offer servers in many countries because it uses virtual server locations .

A virtual or "fake" VPN server location provides an IP address in one country even though the server is physically located in another. This is opposed to a 'physically located' server, which in fact exists within the country you are connected to.

HideMyAss uses both physical and virtual server locations. As you can see in the screenshot below, when we connected to an HMA server in Kenya, the actual physical location of that server was in an Avast server park in Hallandale, Florida.

There are pros and cons to virtual locations. Sometimes your traffic can take a shorter route, which means you can get the speed benefits of connecting close to home while still getting an IP address in the country you require.

They also enable HMA to provide VPN locations that would not otherwise be geographically accessible or that would not have the necessary infrastructure to support the hosting of physical VPN servers. 

Regardless, it may be difficult for you to figure out where find truly the physical server and how it works, which poses some security risks.

The idea of your data being diverted to a country other than where you want it to go can be worrisome and may appear false on the part of the VPN provider.

Other than this, it can seriously affect your internet speed if you get the impression that you are connecting to a VPN server that is close to you, only to end up being the other side of the world. 

Previous versions of HideMyAss identified each type of server by marking them as "virtual" within the application. The latest versions of HMA have removed this feature, so it is now impossible to distinguish one from the other.

It's not unusual for a VPN provider to use virtual server locations, and it's not surprising given the number of locations HideMyAss offers. Regardless, we would like clarification on which server locations are virtual in the application interface.

Does HideMyAss rent its VPN servers?

Some VPN providers choose to rent data center servers rather than own them outright. While this helps lower operating costs, it adds another party that is responsible for the security of your data (the server host).

We spoke with an HMA representative to find out how many VPN servers they own. We found that HideMyAss rents a "significant proportion" of the hardware used in its VPN network, but retains full control over its installation and management.

When it comes to privacy, it is preferable for a VPN provider to own and operate your server's network directly, reducing the number of third parties that your data is subject to. Although it is not ideal for HMA hardware to rely on third party data centers, it is encouraging to see that they maintain full control of the installation and management of the servers. 

Even though having to rent VPN servers is a common practice, some privacy-conscious users prefer to limit the number of third parties involved in handling their data. If you are interested in this, VPN providers like VyprVPN and IPVanish They offer a wide network of completely own servers.

HideMyAss' gigantic server life is one of its best features. Regardless, we would like you to be more transparent about precisely how your network is implemented.

Even though it is not the most private VPN, HideMyAss is safe to use . Hide your IP address and DNS requests with AES-256 encryption and originating DNS servers. In addition there is a good selection of tunneling protocols, including IKEv2 , L2TP and OpenVPN (TCP / UDP).

Even though your security is generally solid, we do not suggest HMA for Mac or iOS users. VPN has a troubling history of security flaws and missing features when it consists of Apple iOS and MacOS, which we'll cover. later in this review .

Advanced features include split tunneling and the IP update tool, which gives you a new IP address at the same location if your current address is suddenly blocked.

HideMyAss Version 5 in short adds a system-wide kill switch for Windows, Android and Mac clients, which will prevent your data from being leaked if your internet connection suddenly drops.

The HMA Kill Switch do not is available on iOS devices and does not work with macOS Catalina , which is the latest version of Apple's desktop operating system.

Encryption and security

We found HMA security to be very strong. HideMyAss implements its encryption as follows:

• The connection is defined through a link protocol insurance RSA-2048 .
• Perfect Forward Secrecy It is provided by an Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key exchange. 
• Data integrity is authenticated through a SHA-384 hash .
• The data transmitted during the session is encrypted through the AES-256 encryption .

We also manually inspect our data using packet capture software to ensure that all HMA traffic is kept secure.

We found out that HideMyAss securely encrypts your traffic and keeps your data safe .

Our data was processed as random text strings and not plain English, which means your passwords, name, email address, and everything else will be invisible to potential hackers on insecure public WiFi networks.

Leak test results

IP address leaks enable advertisers, governments, and websites to see your real location and link your identity to your activity.

Like most popular VPN services, HideMyAss includes built-in protection against both IPv4 and IPv6 leaks.

We ran HideMyAss through a series of leak tests and found that it doesn't leak your IP address, DNS requests, or WebRTC address on any platform other than iOS, it leaked our IP address upon reconnection. 

HMA passed the IP leak test on all platforms except iOS . As you can see in the screenshot below, our actual UK IP address was hidden when using HMA for Windows, and it looked like we were in Prague, Czech Republic.

In closing, this means that the Windows and Android HideMyAss apps can be trusted to hide your true IP address and keep it private while browsing the web.

HideMyAss also owns and operates your own DNS servers without registration , which resolve all DNS requests while browsing the web. This is a must-have feature for privacy, so we are pleased to see that HMA has it covered.

As the screenshot above shows, the DNS leak test only detected our virtual IP address in Prague, Czech Republic and not our actual IP address in London, UK. If you are concerned about security, you can use our VPN leak test to check for leaks yourself.

We also run the HMA installation package using a virus scanner application to make sure the software is not doing anything suspicious behind the scenes.

The analysis was clean and no malicious files found . We do not detect tracking scripts or other suspicious background activities in the HMA VPN file.

HMA security is poor on Mac and iOS

Even though HMA security on most platforms is relatively strong, HideMyAss has a worrying record of faults from security and missing functions when it consists of Apple's iOS and MacOS platforms.

In 2017, were found various security vulnerabilities in the HideMyAss application for Mac. These vulnerabilities allowed malware to be installed at the root of the device if a hacker had physical access.

Apart from this, the HMA VPN disconnect switch does not work on Mac devices running MacOS Catalina . This has been a known bug since December 8, 2019, but unfortunately it has not been solved yet.

As the screenshot above shows, when running HMA on MacOS Catalina our true UK location was leaked when our connection went down. This happened despite being connected to a Mexican VPN server with the VPN disconnect switch enabled.

Other than this, the HideMyAss iOS app doesn't have a VPN kill switch at all. So whether you are using HMA on Mac or iOS, you always run the risk of exposing your data and reveal your real IP address .

Both iOS and Mac applications are only available with the IPSec protocol. IPSec is an older VPN protocol that is generally less secure and more prone to vulnerabilities than OpenVPN, which is our preferred protocol for security and speed.

In general, both historical crashes and current issues on iOS and Mac mean that we cannot recommend HideMyAss for Apple users who are serious about their privacy and security.

Instead, we recommend that you check out or review the best VPNs for Mac and the best VPNs for iPhone and iPad.

With its latest update, HMA Version 5 , HideMyAss has some of the most elegant and intuitive VPN apps out there. By erasing unnecessary clutter and simplifying application, HMA's revamped design is the best part of the latest update.

On the surface, the new design modernizes the app and injects some whimsy into what was an outdated VPN app. This alone is a huge improvement, but HMA's efforts to simplify the application is what sold us. 

HMA has removed the ambiguously labeled alternatives of 'Instant Mode', 'Location Mode' and 'Freedom Mode', which we have always found confusing and misleading. This has now been replaced with a single switch, making connecting to the VPN as simple as it should be. Inside the newly added side panel, the HideMyAss app also clearly explains some advanced VPN connection features, making them accessible to even the most inexperienced VPN users.

HideMyAss is easy to use and install on all platforms, but it can still run into some issues. 

Fortunately, HMA is backed by a extensive online knowledge base , which includes detailed guides, frequently asked questions, and even video tutorials.

But for those times when it is absolutely necessary to get in touch with a human being, HideMyAss customer service is no longer among the best.

HMA recently downgraded the availability of its live chat feature from 24/7 availability to CET from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

For a VPN provider that prides itself on its global server network, the 24/7 unavailability of HideMyAss is truly disappointing. 

As an example, for Los Angeles VPN users, live chat is only available from 11 pm to 2 pm And for those in Sydney, Australia, the hours are from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m.

Regardless, when available, HMA's live chat support team responds very quickly and is usually very helpful.

If you are still stuck, you can contact HideMyAss support by submitting a request ticket by email , communicating with your social media team or posting in the community forum HMA .

HideMyAss is a fast and easy-to-use VPN, and is one of the most consistent VPNs for the US Netflix streaming and BBC iPlayer .

Although HMA is surely not the cheapest or most private VPN service, its Windows app is where it shows its value. It's fast, has a lot of server locations, and will serve its purpose for most people.

HMA's 7-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee also make it a great option for beginners who want to try a VPN before committing to a subscription.

Regardless, HideMyAss' history of logging user data, faulty disconnect switch, and historic cooperation with law enforcement means that definitely not a recommended VPN for privacy .

We recommend that you continue to use this VPN for low-level privacy requirements, such as hiding web traffic from your ISP or staying safe on a public WiFi network. In the same way, if you are a broadcaster who wants a simple, fast and reliable VPN, we have no problem recommending HMA. 

Anyone who needs strict levels of privacy is advised to look for a more secure service with a verified no-logs policy and foolproof apps. If you are looking for a VPN strictly for anonymity or torrenting, you should look elsewhere.