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VPN Providers Disable Servers in Hong Kong to Protect Users from China's Security Law

Private Internet Access and TunnelBear fear their VPN servers could be confiscated in the event Chinese authorities use the new law to seize them.

Michael Kan
 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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Citing users’ safety, two VPN providers are shutting down their servers in Hong Kong in response to China’s new security law for the city. 

Both Private Internet Access and TunnelBear have decided to pull the plug on the Hong Kong-based VPN servers over fears local authorities will try to confiscate them. “China’s new national security law allows law enforcement to seize servers located in Hong Kong without a warrant and otherwise execute warrantless interception of communications,” Private Internet Access wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. 

The company’s VPN servers collect no logs on user activity. Nevertheless, Private Internet Access indicated it was taking a stand for digital privacy. 

TunnelBear also said it stores no users’ personal identifiable information over the servers. “If the server is physically confiscated, and the hard drive is taken out for analysis, the entire hard drive is encrypted,” the company wrote in a Monday blog post. The only sensitive information stored over the machines are “configuration related keys,” which TunnelBear wants to protect.  

Hong Kong-based users will still be able to connect to both VPN services. In TunnelBear's case, the provider is scaling up its VPN operations in Singapore and Japan to offset the loss of the Hong Kong server.

“We will reinstate the Hong Kong server if and only if our users’ privacy and safety will be protected,” it added. 

Under China’s new security law for Hong Kong, local authorities now have broad powers to crack down on political dissent in the city, and jail activists with life imprisonment. According to the BBC, people suspected of breaking the law can also be wire-tapped and put under surveillance. 

As a result, Hong Kong internet users have been flocking to VPN services to protect their digital privacy. However, many residents have been engaging in self-censorship, and purging past statements they've made on social media on fears Chinese authorities will use the content to one day prosecute them.

For now, US companies including Facebook and Twitter are hitting pause on responding to data requests from Hong Kong law enforcement. 

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About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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