ExpressVPN, CNET’s current top-rated VPN, announced a handful of significant updates that should help customers use the service to protect their privacy in new ways. In doing so, Express is positioning itself as a fuller online privacy and security suite rather than just a VPN.
To supplement its core VPN service, Express is rolling out a brand-new ExpressAI consumer AI platform and ExpressMailGuard email alias tool alongside its existing Keys password manager and Identity Defender suite. Instead of living as part of the ExpressVPN app, each will be its own standalone app and will be available as part of ExpressVPN’s bundled subscription plans.
Express pitches ExpressAI as a privacy-first AI platform that doesn’t log your conversations and ExpressMailGuard as an email alias tool that can help keep your true email address private and cut down spam and phishing messages. The company says that separating Keys from the VPN app will give people a more streamlined password manager experience and help engineers more efficiently roll out features and improvements. Identity Defender remains largely the same, but will soon be available as a standalone app rather than integrated into the VPN app.
I’ve liked Keys since it was released in 2023 because I always saw its potential to develop into a serious contender in the password manager space. Now, as a standalone app, I think Express is on its way to taking Keys to the next level. And although Identity Defender can be useful for some users, I’m still somewhat lukewarm on it given that a lot of its functionality can be obtained for free from other sources while it’s only available on the Pro and Advanced plans. However, ExpressAI and ExpressMailGuard both have the potential to be true game changers for a lot of people.
ExpressMailGuard and the new ExpressKeys app are available now, but the company says that ExpressAI will be made available at a later date.
What is ExpressAI?
With the almost limitless ways we can use AI to enhance our daily lives, it’s easy to ignore the massive data harvesting that goes on behind the scenes when we use large language models and the associated privacy risks. Tools like ChatGPT and other LLMs collect every user input, including conversations, files and images, in addition to other personal data connected to the user’s account, device and network to train their models and tailor responses. This is why it’s extremely risky to share highly confidential files or other personal information with these AI models.
Express is looking to eliminate all that risk with ExpressAI, a web app that gives users a truly private way to interact with an LLM in a zero-knowledge environment. This means that neither Express, nor the server infrastructure providers have eyes on what a user inputs into the tool. Pete Membrey, ExpressVPN’s chief engineering officer, said that it’s not a promise that the company won’t collect your data, but a mathematical guarantee because of the end-to-end encryption that happens as user inputs are sent through a “secure enclave.” In other words, only you can decrypt the data.
ExpressAI is an extension of the company’s philosophy that the best way to protect data is not to collect it in the first place, Shay Peretz, ExpressVPN’s COO, said in a press release.
“We're not just making privacy claims -- we're proving it with cryptographic guarantees. With our enclave architecture, your messages exist in a secure, isolated environment that even we cannot access,” Peretz said.
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