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Hotspot Shield Elite

Security Software > Security - Privacy

Protect Your Internet Surfing with Anonymity

Look at you! You're really good about securing your home network by implementing router security and picking strong passwords, then go surf on public WiFi networks without a care in the world! The best way to ensure that your confidential information is safeguarded, both at home and on the road, is to hide yourself beneath a cloak of invisibility - which is exactly what Hotspot Shield Elite provides! It's today's discount software promotion, available for a limited time.

Hotspot Shield Elite secures your entire Internet surfing experience, whether you're at home or using a public connection. With Hotspot Shield Elite, all web transactions are secured using HTTPS, making your identity invisible to third-party websites and ISPs. Everything is safeguarded when you use Hotspot Shield Elite - passwords, credit card numbers, and the like - by the Virtual Private Network created by Hotspot Shield Elite. It's a tunnel of safety that effectively hides your data and movement from anything that's "outside" of the tunnel!

When you use Hotspot Shield Elite, all of your traffic is encrypted, not just the data going to sensitive sites. While banking sites typically use HTTPS, they're doing it to avoid losses on THEIR end, not out of some innate obligation to protect YOU. Hotspot Shield Elite raises the security level of your entire browsing experience to that of visiting a banking site. What's more, Hotspot Shield Elite can also be used to get around censorship restrictions that are imposed based on an IP address. By providing you with an address that's unique to the VPN, Hotspot Shield Elite gives you access to the entire world of websites regardless of content or location restrictions.

Review Written by Derek Lee
Hotspot Shield Elite

Mac & PC

20
%
OFF
$23.96
RETAIL $29.95
AnchorFree   Website
Platforms: Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 MAC OS Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion
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Email Updates Load 35 Older Comments
Paul T Other than being ad-free, what are the advantages of Elite over the free version? Thanks!
Oct 21 2012 at 11:26am
Stefan Hauber I was trying anonymous surfing with TOR, another free program and found out three annoying things about this program, which might perhaps be the price of maximum security:

(1) The proxy-connection switch (often) between a session. It's no problem, if you jump from one web-address to another, but it is, if you do something over a longer time, like buying. The worked on site sees suddenly a different TCP/IP-address and might block the entire process.
(2) I am not able to define the country, where I would like the destination would see me.
(3) The connection is significantly slower

Ok, I have to admit, I didn't read the complete manual, so there might be ways to make this change.

Nevertheless, is this also how your program behave, i.e. can I define the country the called website should see me and can this connection (TCP/IP) be stable in the current session?
Oct 21 2012 at 11:28pm
G. E. Hi, does it WORK if i live in europe?
Oct 23 2012 at 2:24am
Greg M Does it work for people located in Canada?
Oct 23 2012 at 3:26am
disenchanted This offering is for a 12 month license.
Is it possible to buy a longer license duration during this sale?
Example: like 24 or 36 months?

Thanks in advance.
Oct 23 2012 at 5:48am
SoftCollector Dear Developer,

1. Can you, please, explain how this is different from programs like Hide My IP, which also encrypt the connection?

2. Will it slow down my connection?

3. Is there a trial version available? I cannot seem to find one, and it is highly unlikely that I will spend money on a product I cannot buy.

Kind Regards,
SC
Oct 23 2012 at 12:35pm
John H This is a great deal. I pay $5 a month for Wintopia VPN.

Anyone that uses public WIFI needs to be using VPN. It is so easy to monitor traffic over a public WIFI. My friend monitors his Public WIFI and told me all the sites I visited.

Research VPN. VPN is not a proxy or TOR anonamizer.

VPN is worth paying for. If you are too cheap to pay for VPN and go with free alternatives, you deserve what happens to you.

You can do banking and purchase transactions over VPN.

VPN is also good for your home ethernet connection as it prevents your ISP from knowing where you go on the net.

Do your homework folks. You need this especially if you live under a repressive regime ... But if you live under a repressive regime you want to research your VPN provider really well and extra features they may have.
Oct 24 2012 at 5:49am
Rick Gardiner Hi Paul T: Added features of Hotspot Shield Elite include:

~Faster browsing speed through dedicated Elite Network
~Malware Protection Plus - Detects and blocks malware infected websites, as well as phishing and spam sites.
~Ad Free Browsing
~Dedicated Elite Support
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 24 2012 at 7:14am
Rick Gardiner Hi G.E. & Greg - Yes, Hotspot Shield Elite secures your wi-fi internet connection and allows you to surf the internet safely and anonymously, protecting your identity and data.
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 24 2012 at 7:19am
Rick Gardiner Hi disenchanted - This offer is only on the 12 month license/subscription.
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 24 2012 at 7:21am
Rick Gardiner Hi SoftCollector,

1. Can you, please, explain how this is different from programs like Hide My IP, which also encrypt the connection?
I've never used Hide My IP, but Hotspot Shield Elite is the worlds most trusted personal VPN and privacy solution with over 60MM users world wide. Hotspot Shield Elite offers advanced Malware protection, secure and anonymous internet browsing, unlimited bandwidth, and solutions for Mac, PC, iOS, and Android keeping you and your data safe when browsing online.

2. Will it slow down my connection?
You may experience slower web browsing with the free/ad-supported version. Hotspot Shield Elite has a dedicated network with faster browsing.

3. Is there a trial version available? I cannot seem to find one, and it is highly unlikely that I will spend money on a product I cannot buy.
Yes, there is a 7 day free trial available of the paid version on AnchorFree.com
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 24 2012 at 7:31am
Rick Gardiner Thanks, John H! :)
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 24 2012 at 7:32am
SoftCollector Hotsport Shield Elite's Privacy Policy: "AnchorFree may share anonymous data with a variety of third parties, including its affiliates, advertisers, and other current and prospective business partners. AnchorFree may use anonymous data collected for website administration, advertising, and promotional purposes, and may share such information with various affiliated and unaffiliated entities for such purposes.
AnchorFree may also enter into agreements with outside companies that possess technology that allows us to customize the advertising and marketing messages Users receive while using the Hotspot Shield, and those outside companies may have access to anonymous data that we collect from Hotspot Shield users.
AnchorFree may disclose automatically collected and other aggregate non-personally-identifiable information with interested third parties to assist such parties in understanding the usage, viewing, and demographic patterns for certain programs, content, services, advertisements, promotions, and/or functionality on the Hotspot Shield."

I thought that this was exactly what a person looking for anonymity and privacy would try to avoid.
Oct 24 2012 at 7:52am
Keith Anderson Is there an answer to Stefan's comment number 2?

"(2) I am not able to define the country, where I would like the destination would see me."

I used hotspot with PayPal and it didn't like it.
It thought the account was being hacked so it locked it.
It took awhile it get access back in to the account.
I assumed hotspot used an IP out of country and PayPal
didn't like it.
Is this correct?

I didn't try it with banks because I didn't want the
hassle with having my accounts locked. I just use it at
hotels to check emails and minor accounts.
Oct 24 2012 at 9:09am
Zee Uptwist Thank you, SoftCollector for posting the 'Privacy Policy'!

I'm glad I read your comment first... it saved me a lot of unnecessary reading and from making this purchase.

So much for the so-called privacy.
Oct 24 2012 at 9:20am
Rick Gardiner Hi Keith A. - Hotspot Shield Elite automatically chooses the server location to ensure optimal speed and performance when connected.

Hope this helps!
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 24 2012 at 10:04am
Zee Uptwist Hi Rick. Can you please explain your 'information sharing' in your Privacy Policy that was commented on by SoftCollector above? Thank you.
Oct 24 2012 at 10:20am
Brian H Hi- Once again, SoftCollector proves himself invaluable on these forums!!! Than you so much for taking the time to look into the privacy policy (which appears quite disturbing!!) and making we fellow "Bits" aware, before purchase! :-)

For Rick Gardiner (or any other "AnchorFree" rep), if what "SoftCollector " stated as your company privacy policy (in a post above) is accurate, than I, as a consumer, find this totally unacceptable and very intrusive. The sad thing is liked everything else about your product and this offer; and was ready to click on "Buy Now" before I took the time to read the postings here.

Question- is there a way for a customer to "opt out" of your companies apparently standard policy of sharing customers anonymous data with third parties? And more importantly, would you, as a company who is supposed to be acting as a proponent to protect your customer's privacy by selling an anonymous surfing subscription, consider changing your company privacy policy to *NOT* sell your customer's data to third parties? I would see this as the most sensible PR Move.

If you would let us know, at least about the "opt out" option, before this deal closes at 12AM PST, I would appreciate it, as it will influence if you gain another customer in me, ;-)

Thanks -Brian
Oct 24 2012 at 10:31am
Paul T @ Rick, thanks for your reply.

For those concerned about the Privacy Policy, I urge you to read the entire Privacy Policy for "Elite" on the website. Note the relevance and usage of the terms 'anonymous' & 'aggregate' and the places where 'personally identifiable information' is used.

Also note this sentence:
"AnchorFree does not collect, store, or share any permanent identifiers of Users, including IP addresses."

Personally, I find the Privacy Policy to be acceptable. I believe that you'll find similar policies - and some not nearly as good - at other VPN providers.

Just my opinion. Make your own decisions, of course.
Oct 24 2012 at 10:41am
Edward Smith Well ESET certainly does not like the program being downloaded. Says it contains "Win32/Toolbar.Conduit " which it says is a dangerous program and strongly recommends that I not download this program. Why would Nod32 react this way??
Oct 24 2012 at 11:32am
Zee Uptwist Be careful with the free version as it has received several 1-star reviews within the past week on download dot com.
Oct 24 2012 at 11:55am
Paul T Bummer. The Buy Now link is not working!

I'm getting a Page Not Found response from esellerate https://store6.esellerate...tsdujour50 ...

Any help on this?
Oct 24 2012 at 12:11pm
delenn13 I am getting the same thing.
Oct 24 2012 at 1:08pm
Rick Gardiner Hey Paul & Delann13 -
Not sure why that link is down, but if you click through the "Buy Now" button I'm able to get to the cart.

Alternatively, you can use this link:
http://www.bitsdujour.com...9%2f100001
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 24 2012 at 2:11pm
Frank Stephens You claim to support Android, but nothing here or on the website indicates that. I'm only interested in an Android version.
Oct 24 2012 at 2:13pm
Rick Gardiner Hi Frank - Android version can be downloaded through Google Play Marketplace. This particular promo is on the desktop versions for PC & Mac.
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 24 2012 at 2:44pm
Paulo C I have an existing Elite account with 9 months left.

So, what will happen if I purchase this offer?
Oct 24 2012 at 2:48pm
Paul T I was able to purchase by using IE, not clear on why Firefox didn't work. I've used it several times before on BitsDuJour with no problem...

James, I've used the free version for several months recently with no problems at all, FWIW.

Anyway, cheers to all, and thanks to BDJ & AnchorFree!
I'm out.
Oct 24 2012 at 2:48pm
delenn13 I still can't get through..Using Firefox

Page Not Found...
Sorry, the eSellerate page you requested was not found. Some possible
solutions follow.

Incorrect URL


You may have typed the address incorrectly.
The link you followed may not be accurate, or may no longer exist.
You may have reached the page from a bookmark, which is not supported because eSellerate dynamically generates its pages. Please bookmark the software publisher's web site instead.

We suggest that you check the software publisher's web site for the link to
its eSellerate store.

Link to Download Expired
If you bookmarked the download location of a product you purchased, the link may have expired. To receive your product, please visit http://store.esellerate.net/support/ and follow the re-download instructions.

Session Timeout
Your shopping session in an eSellerate store will end after 10 consecutive minutes of no activity. If this occurs, please return to the software publisher's web site and click the eSellerate store link again.

webmaster@esellerate.net
Oct 24 2012 at 2:50pm
Zee Uptwist Thanks Paul! I'm trying out the 7-day trial and it seems to be working fine.
Oct 24 2012 at 3:04pm
delenn13 I have cleared my cookies, cache...rebooted. Used HSS and Turned it off..no change.....I don't know what to do.

I used HSS Free earlier and paid bills...I really don't want to use IE.
Oct 24 2012 at 3:12pm
Tortuga @Rick Gardiner
Hello, I see the last answer from the company was over 8 hrs ago!
Like other posters stated above, I too have been trying to buy this software for several HOURS, without success!!
Also tried the alternate link
With less than 15minutes to go ... What to do??
Please advise, thanks
Oct 24 2012 at 11:47pm
J S Some of the Vendors who promote their software (subscription based) here on Bitsdujour also offer to make renewals the same price or discounted rate as the original deal. (For example: PowerFolder Pro Gold)

1. If somebody buys the 1 Year deal being offered during these 2 days, Can you offer such a "locked in" subscription renewal deal if somebody buys your software today?

2. if You cant or wont "lock in" today's deal rate on the yearly renewals, then what discounted price - if any, are your yearly renewals normally offered or priced at?

3. Am I correct in assuming that it doesn't matter how the user connects to the internet, Your software will work regardless of connection method (for example: Cable or ADSL/ADSL2 or DialUp or thru Mobile Phone or WiFi)?

My apologies for editing these comments but I was initially trying to get it posted before the deal expired, but I now know it is running for another day so I figured it was worth elaborating.

Many thanks, J S
Oct 25 2012 at 12:01am
StrayCat DigIT @delenn13
No problems accessing the eSellarate page usinf FF over here Del.
:)
Oct 25 2012 at 12:17am
Frank Stephens I have no idea whether IE helps with ordering or not but IE paranoia is unjustified. If you're using some ancient version of Windows with an ancient version of IE, then that's a problem. IE is as secure as any other browser and more secure than most. It's constantly updated, although new features are generally only added with each new major version.
Oct 25 2012 at 12:21am
StrayCat DigIT Why the auto renewal policy which you'll have to agree to before you can take advantage of this offer?!
Oct 25 2012 at 12:26am
Paul T @ delenn13 & anyone else who might be having problems with the Buy Now link on this page in Firefox - I just now found that disabling the "HTTPS Everywhere" add-on in Firefox allows the page to work! So, if you have that add-on installed in Firefox, try disabling it via the icon on your browser until you've made the purchase.

HTH!
Oct 25 2012 at 5:09am
Tortuga @Paul T :)
THANK YOU!! Wow!! Indeed, that was the 'culprit' ... *sigh*
I had disabled NoScript, Ghostery, AdMuncher, Better Privacy, cleaned Cookies/History, ran cCleaner, ... but nothing worked.
Did NOT think abt HTTPS Everywhere! Duh!!! They recently changed their icon, so it was off my radar ;)

Although I successful accessed the page, will hv to wait till later when I get home from work, todo the actual transaction

Cheers! And thank you again
Peace
Oct 25 2012 at 5:50am
delenn13 @Paul T WOW! Thanks, that was it. But I spent last night updating IE and getting it. IE is so plain..but it worked. I was half tempted to get Chrome..LOL

@Frank Stephens I hadn't updated my IE because I never use it..So it was the fact that it wasn't updated, not IE paranoia. WHEN MS decides to let us have 50& of the decent add ons that FF lets us use then I might consider using IE once in a while. MS needs to start listening to the consumer about WHAT they want. If they do, they might find people might use them more.
Oct 25 2012 at 6:07am
Frank Stephens delenn13, not to get off topic, but IE allowed add-ons when few other browsers even existed. You can still find add-ons, but for the most part people simply aren't developing for it. IE has a number of capabilities built-in, such as flexible tab support, accelerator support, etc. Apart from IE accelerators, most of my add-ons support multiple browsers, such as Sticky Password, or work on all browsers, such as Ad Muncher. I use the Google Toolbar, which is usually available for IE first, then FF. Of course, you can use Chrome instead of the Google Toolbar.
Oct 25 2012 at 7:36am
Rick Gardiner Nice work, @Paul T! :) Thanks for sharing.
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 25 2012 at 8:40am
Zee Uptwist Hi Rick. If I would purchase two licenses, could I activate the second license after the first license expires (1 year later) allowing me to have 3 PCs protected for two years?

Or would I have to activate both of the licenses after making the purchase? Thank you.
Oct 25 2012 at 9:26am
Rick Gardiner Hi James - The license start date should be when the software license key is activated, not tied to the purchase date. :)
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 25 2012 at 9:33am
Rick Gardiner Hi James - The license key "start date" is when it is activated within the product or online. It is not tied to the purchase date...if that helps :)
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 25 2012 at 9:34am
Zee Uptwist Thanks Rick for your quick reply. I just purchased two licenses. Really nice software/service! Thanks again.
Oct 25 2012 at 10:06am
SoftCollector I am still trying to understand:

If the statement of Rick Gardner is correct that H.S.E. offers "Ad Free Browsing", and at the same time AnchorFree sells anonymous user data to advertisers, which in turn use it to deliver customer-orientated ads within H.S.E – what does all this amount to?

Kind Regards,
SC
Oct 25 2012 at 11:07am
J S Your own web-sites FAQ page doesn't mention Your online Activation and the Bitsdujour POLiCY Box says that this software requires OnLine Activation, and it can be installed onto 3 computers(?) but there is no mention about a hardware footprint.

Q4. If the user reformats their harddrive, or the harddrive dies, or the owner/user sells their computer: Can the 3 Computer Licenses be transferred from an existing or dead harddrive/computer to a new harddrive/computer?

Rick, I do hope you'll also answer my previous postings questions
Oct 25 2012 at 12:11pm
Zee Uptwist @ SC

Hotspot Shield 'Free' has ads.
Hotspot Shield 'Elite' (HSE), this BDJ offer, has no ads.

The privacy policy you've mentioned applies only to the 'Free' version.

Hope that helps.
Oct 25 2012 at 12:17pm
Rick Gardiner Hi JS - Sorry I missed your questions...

1. Renewal is at regular price, and will not be "locked in" at this promo price.
2. Annual renewal is $29.95, however I would imagine our friends at BDJ would have some special pricing available for you :)
3. Hotspot Shield Elite will secure any internet connection (wired or wireless/wi-fi). I personally use it for both LAN and wi-fi connections.
4. The license is transferable, so if your HD or machine crashed you would be able to reinstall and continue to use your license key. If you have any difficulty or issues, support can help you out.
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 25 2012 at 1:35pm
Chong Lee Hi Rick Gardiner.
I just bought a copy of the program and found out that my account was put on yearly auto-renew. To double check that I clicked on the link in my order confirmation email I received from you. After that I had a live chat with a representative which agreed to cancel the auto-renewal and informed me that my account would be good until 10/25/2012. He or she informed me that logging into my account constitute activation of the account/program. What happened to your earlier post that: "The license key "start date" is when it is activated within the product or online. It is not tied to the purchase date...if that helps :)"?
I have not even downloaded the program yet and it is already activated?
Oct 25 2012 at 1:55pm
Rick Gardiner Hi Chong Lee - There are a couple ways to activate the product. If you download the free trial or free version, you can input your license key and activate it online. Alternatively, you can login to www.hsselite.com using your license key, download the product and activate as well.

Hope this helps!
AnchorFree Vendor - Oct 25 2012 at 2:30pm
Louis H I was all set to make a purchase and then the order page started acting funny. It takes all my information and then sent me to a page where nothing showed up and then it brought me back and showed all the info correctly except no discount. And then i finally got the page showing the correct info with the discount but when it took me to PayPal it would not show me the amount it was charging me and so i cancelled. Since one page showed me being charged full price and another showed me being charged half price but the PayPal page did not show either price, I am not willing to go ahead and pay and then have to deal with hassle of getting a refund if the higher price is what ends up being debited from my account. Thanks all the same.

I will probably not be back on line the rest of the evening, and so by the time the situation gets sorted out it will be too late anyway to take advantage of the deal.
Oct 25 2012 at 3:16pm
Chris Roy Jackson Keith Anderson, You said:
"I used hotspot with PayPal and it didn't like it."
If you read PayPal's "Policy", ONE of the conditions is that you don't use a "Proxy Server" when connecting to them... Just set an Exception for " *.paypal.com " in your LAN Settings (if you are using Internet Explorer). My account was locked several times before I finally figured out what the problem was.
Oct 25 2012 at 3:33pm
Tortuga @Rick Gardiner
Getting ready to purchase 2 Licenses
1) Just to confirm, they can be activated consecutively (not concurrently), as you stated above, right?
2) Also, how can I opt «out» of the automatic yearly 'Auto-Renewal' during purchase?
But I can not login to annul the renewal, as I'm not going to activate either of the licenses right away
If I can not opt out during purchase, could you arrange it?

Many thanks to all posters who have provided great information & clarifications these past 2 days, it has been very helpful !! :)
Peace
Oct 25 2012 at 5:40pm
Chong Lee @ Rick Gardiner
I apologize if I was not clear. But my problem was not because I cannot activate the account. My license was activated the moment I logged into my account. That is even before I downloaded the program (I still have not downloaded the program yet). No where here in this site do I see it stated that activation was automatic upon logging into the website. Also I don't remember (please correct me if I am wrong) seeing a choice to opt-out of auto-renewal during the purchasing process. I was not planning on activating the software for a while but now it is already activated and the count-down has started. It is now set to expire @ 10/25/2013. Furthermore I do not want auto-renewal of the program.
Oct 25 2012 at 7:14pm
Greg Wynne WARNING...

After reading...Rick Gardiner Hi James - The license start date should be when the software license key is activated, not tied to the purchase date. :)

I purchased 3 licenses and I noticed on the my 3rd receipt page which the receipt page disappears after a few seconds that it had an expiration date of 10-25-2013 and it was setup to auto renew and charge you $29.99 automatically on or around 10-25-2013. I believe we have been misled. Not a happy camper.... Looks like I will need a refund for 2 licenses.
Oct 25 2012 at 7:58pm
Chong Lee @ Greg Wynne
I had exactly the same problem. Rick is not responding o the problem and the same with the "live Chat" person I corresponded with this afternoon immediately after I bought the program and noticed the problems (activation). The chat person told me that he/she cancelled my auto-renewal and that an email confirmation was sent. But as of 4:430 pm this afternoon I have still not received any confirmation of the cancellation of the autorenewal - Have not checked my (work) email yet.
Am trying to get a complete refund. I have still not downloaded the program yet.
Hope you get better results than me. Good luck.
Oct 25 2012 at 9:04pm
Al Aymer Rick Gardiner

I tried both the BDJ link and the alternate link you provided. Neither one worked.

What are your suggestions?
Oct 26 2012 at 12:02am
Hotspot Shield Elite
Posting here will also email AnchorFree directly.
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