Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
ExpressVPN,CNET Current Top rated VPNannounced a number of important updates that will help customers use the service to protect their privacy in new ways. By doing this, Express positions itself as a complete online privacy and security suite rather than just a VPN.
To complement its core VPN service, Express is rolling out an all-new ExpressAI consumer AI platform and the 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 Bundled subscription plans.
Express offers ExpressAI as a privacy-first AI platform that doesn’t log your conversations and ExpressMailGuard as an email aliasing tool that can help keep your real email address private and reduce spam and phishing messages. The company says that separating the switches from the VPN app will give people a more streamlined experience Password manager Experience and help engineers roll out features and improvements more efficiently. Identity Defender remains largely the same, but will soon be available as a standalone app rather than integrated into a VPN app.
I’ve loved Keys since its release in 2023 because I’ve always seen its potential to evolve into a serious contender in the password management space. Now, as a standalone app, I think Express is on its way to taking Keys to the next level. Although Defender of identity It can be useful for some users, but I’m still somewhat lukewarm about it since much 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 have the potential to be a real game-changer for a lot of people.
The new ExpressMailGuard and ExpressKeys app are available now, but the company says ExpressAI will be available at a later date.
What is ExpressAI?
With the almost limitless ways in which we can use AI to improve our daily lives, it is easy to ignore these phenomena Data harvesting What happens behind the scenes when we use large language models and the privacy risks associated with them. Tools like ChatGPT And others Master’s degree in Law Collect all user input, including conversations, files, and photos, as well as other personal data associated with a user’s account, device, and network to train their models and tailor their responses. For this reason, sharing highly confidential files or other personal information with these AI models is extremely dangerous.
Express is looking to eliminate all of this risk with ExpressAI, a web application that gives users a truly private way to interact with LLM in a knowledge-free environment. This means that neither Express nor the server infrastructure providers monitor what the user enters into the tool. This isn’t a promise that the company won’t collect your data, but rather a mathematical guarantee due to the end-to-end encryption that occurs when user input is sent over a “secure zone,” said Pete Membry, chief engineering officer at ExpressVPN. 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, Shai Peretz, COO of ExpressVPN, said in a press release.
“We don’t just claim privacy – we prove it with encryption guarantees,” Peretz said. “With our enclave architecture, your messages reside in a secure, isolated environment that we can’t even access.”
In addition to being zero-knowledge-based, ExpressAI is set up to be “zero-trained,” meaning the model is never trained on user input. File uploads are only processed in memory and never saved to your hard drive, and you can set messages and other entries to be deleted automatically. You can safely ask questions or upload images and files for analysis by ExpressAI without putting your privacy at risk.
I also like how ExpressAI allows paid subscribers to compare the outputs of multiple LLMs side-by-side in real-time, which can help give you a fuller picture or additional context to your query. Basic users are limited to ExpressAI output only, but advanced users can compare three models, and power users can compare five models. Basic users are also limited to a file upload limit of 5MB and 50 entries per day, while Advanced users get 10MB and 150 entries per day, and Pro users get 50MB and 500 entries per day.
What is ExpressMailGuard?
Email has traditionally been one of the least secure means of communication, as well as an easy target for phishing. You’ve probably willingly shared your email address with hundreds of companies, many of which in turn likely pass it on to other entities, including data brokers. Before long, your email address is exposed in a data breach or ends up in the hands of thousands of different entities that don’t care about your privacy. This can lead to your inbox being filled with junk mail and phishing messages.
ExpressMailGuard is a web application that lets you create disposable email aliases that you can use to hide your real email address when doing things like signing up for online subscriptions or registering for an app. When you use an ExpressMailGuard email alias, all correspondence sent to that alias is automatically forwarded to your primary email address without the sender having direct access to your real email address, similar to an Apple address Hide my email feature.
No matter which plan you purchase, you can create an unlimited number of aliases, giving you the opportunity to use a different alias for each of your online accounts. This can help you significantly reduce the amount of spam and phishing emails you receive.
“Email addresses are permanent, but many of the services people sign up for are not,” Peretz said in a press release. “ExpressMailGuard is like a VPN for email. We make it easy for anyone to protect their real email address, reduce unwanted exposure, and manage aliases in one place, no matter which email provider they use.”
ExpressMailGuard lets you create an unlimited number of email aliases to help protect your inbox from spam and phishing.
There are multiple options to create custom forwarding or blocking rules for your aliases, disable aliases at any time if they start receiving spam, and direct aliases to preferred inboxes. Express also says it’s rolling out PGP encryption for MailGuard to encrypt your inbox to ensure your inbox stays protected. Features and functionality vary by plan type, but like ExpressAI, all users get at least some access to the tool.
Ultimately, ExpressMailGuard seems to fall somewhere between a Surfshark alternative ID and Proton Mail — with the added versatility of being compatible with any email provider and the ability to create an unlimited number of aliases. while Proton and Surfshark Offering excellent inbox protection features and unique functionality in its own right, you are limited to a set number of aliases using an alternate ID and one primary email address with Proton Mail. ExpressMailGuard hits a sweet spot that can appeal to a wide range of users.
Key improvements and minor changes to Identity Defender
ExpressKeys has been newly redesigned as a standalone app and is available for iOS and Android and as a browser extension, allowing you to use it across your devices. The company says that as a standalone app, engineers will be able to focus on developing ExpressKeys separately to accelerate improvements and iterate them faster over time, giving users access to new features in a more timely manner.
ExpressKeys has been redesigned as a standalone app, separate from the ExpressVPN app.
“With today’s launch of ExpressKeys as a dedicated password management app, we are giving users a simpler and more secure way to save, organize and autofill their credentials,” Peretz said in a press release.
Identity Defender remains essentially the same, apart from being integrated into its own standalone app on February 26. Basic users won’t have access to any of Identity Defender’s features, but Advanced and Pro subscribers can access dark web monitoring, identity theft insurance, address change alerts, SSN monitoring, data removal, credit scans, and credit reports as part of the suite of available services.
New services do not lead to price increases
When I first heard that ExpressVPN was adding additional services to its portfolio, I was excited at the prospect of a new set of tools, but I was also bracing for another price increase. I was very happy to learn that Express isn’t raising its prices at all, despite adding some really useful tools in ExpressAI and ExpressMailGuard.
ExpressVPN pricing is divided into three different tiers: Basic, Advanced, and Pro. The Basic plan includes a VPN with 10 simultaneous connections, basic ad blocking, and limited access to ExpressAI and ExpressMailGuard features. The Advanced plan includes everything in Basic, plus 12 simultaneous VPN connections, advanced DNS filtering, and access to ExpressKeys and ExpressAI and ExpressMailGuard add-ons. The Pro plan includes 14 simultaneous VPN connections and full access to all features and allowances in the full suite of tools available.
In fact, ExpressVPN’s introductory prices are currently a little cheaper than they usually are, with Valentine’s Day sale The company is currently operating. Monthly plans are not discounted during the sale, but you can save a little money in the first trimester on the annual and two-year plans at each level.
- The Basic plan costs $13 per month, for a total of $52.39 for the first 15 months or a total of $68.40 for the first 28 months, with the annual and two-year plans renewing for $100 per year.
- The Advanced plan costs $14 per month, for a total of $62.89 for the first 15 months or $88 total for the first 28 months, with the annual and two-year plans renewing at $120 per year.
- The Pro plan costs $20 per month, for a total of $94.39 for the first 15 months or a total of $146.80 for the first 28 months, with the annual and two-year plans renewing at $200 per year.
ExpressVPN’s Valentine’s Day sale is a good deal, but it’s not as deep a discount as the company would like you to believe.
However, while ExpressVPN’s order page frames the sale as if you can save up to 81%, the reality is a bit more modest, but still a good deal – and you’ll likely find ExpressVPN cheaper all year round.
The 81% figure is based on the assumption that the user pays the monthly price for the basic plan ($13) for 28 months, which comes out to $363.72. But I doubt anyone would actually pay $364 for ExpressVPN Basic over two years. In fact, you only save a grand total of $29.32 over the initial 28-month period, which means a 30% savings compared to the regular introductory price for the 2-year plan.
Either way, I’m glad Express is committed to diversifying its portfolio and offering more Bundled options In addition to its core VPN product. Especially considering that its pricing has not changed, the company now offers more value than it did previously and is in a position to better compete with other top VPNs that offer bundled services such as NordVPN, Surfshark and Proton.