AnchorFree Reports Increased US Privacy Concerns Spark Record Growth in Hotspot Shield VPN Use

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 21, 2013) - AnchorFree, the global leader in consumer security, privacy and Internet freedom, today announced that is has protected 140 million email messages and 2.3 billion mobile and web messages across chat, messaging, and social media applications from prying eyes in the last 12 months through its Hotspot Shield VPN application.

"We are growing faster than at any time in our history because of escalating concerns about online privacy and security in the US and abroad," said David Gorodyansky, founder and CEO of AnchorFree, maker of Hotspot Shield.

Hotspot Shield is growing by 250,000 new users per day. About 332,000 social media messages and 40,000 emails are protected and encrypted by Hotspot Shield every hour.

According to an Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll released this month, more than 55 percent of Americans say they view the collection and use of their personal information as "mostly negative" because it could violate their personal privacy, security, and individual liberty.

Hotspot Shield usage in the US has increased 120% in the first half of 2013, due to growing consumer demand in protecting their personal privacy and communications. With the most growth coming from people in New York, followed by Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles, indicating these cities have the most privacy concerned citizens.

Hotspot Shield also encrypts messages sent via Skype, Twitter, Viber, WhatsApp, SnapChat and other online and mobile chat services. Similarly to the way Apple Messenger encrypts all user communications within its app, Hotspot Shield encrypts all communications for all email and message services.

"Protecting the privacy of user data has been a huge priority of ours from the start," said Gorodyansky.

Each month Hotspot Shield, which is available for PC, Mac, Android and iOS, is downloaded about 5 million times on desktops and 1.5 million times on mobile devices to protect user privacy and to enable secure communications online.

AnchorFree was recently named by Forbes as America's sixth most promising company. Its Hotspot Shield app, the world's most popular consumer virtual private network (VPN), has been downloaded more than 150 million times. Hotspot Shield is available as a free download on Google Play and the Apple App Store or from the company's websites at http://www.hotspotshield.com or www.anchorfree.com. 

About AnchorFree:
AnchorFree believes in placing consumers in control of their personal information online. The company's mission is to enable secure access to the world's information for an addressable market of five billion people who access the Web through computers or mobile devices. AnchorFree does this through Hotspot Shield, the world's most popular app for safe browsing. Hotspot Shield secures all Internet communications, protects the user's identity online, and provides universal access to all Internet content. Hotspot Shield is available for PC, Mac, Apple iOS, and Android platforms at www.AnchorFree.com and www.HotspotShield.com. AnchorFree is a privately held, venture-backed company based in Mountain View, California.