Hotspot Shield Free VPN Experiences 1000% Growth Surge in the Wake of Recent Turkish Unrest

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 3, 2013) - AnchorFree, the global leader in consumer security, privacy and Internet freedom, today announced that it experienced 1000% growth in installs of its popular Hotspot Shield VPN software over the weekend in Turkey in the wake of anti-government protests.

As Turkish citizens of all ages took to the streets over the weekend to protest what they view as an increasingly authoritarian government, Hotspot Shield saw an influx of more than 120,000 new users. The mobile version jumped into the Top 5 most downloaded iPhone apps alongside popular communications apps such as Twitter and Ustream, which allows users to broadcast live video, and Zello, an app which allows your iPhone to function like a two-way CB radio or walkie-talkie.

Hotspot Shield has been used in recent years by democracy movements around the world, including the Arab Spring, to circumvent government censorship of popular social media services such as Facebook and Twitter. Installs of the iPhone and Android versions surged nearly 3000% over the weekend in Turkey while installs of the desktop PC and Mac software, already popular in Turkey, grew by 800% day-over-day. Hotspot Shield sees about 9,800 installs a day across all platforms from Turkey, but saw those numbers jump to 98,487 on Saturday alone.

"Enabling secure and free access to the world's information has been a big part of our company mission from the start," said David Gorodyansky, founder and CEO of AnchorFree, which created Hotspot Shield. "We find it satisfying and humbling to enable Internet users to gain freedom to access all information online and are glad to play a role in global events by putting users in control online."

Hotspot Shield saw surges across all platforms, but it was particularly pronounced on mobile devices, with iOS installs on Saturday growing 77 times what they were on Friday. Feeding concerns of increased government censorship, the Turkish Prime Minister called Twitter a "scourge" and condemned social media in general as "the worst menace to society."

"The really interesting thing here," said Gorodyansky, "is that tens of thousands of people are downloading Hotspot Shield and other communications apps in anticipation of further censorship. It just goes to show how evolving Internet and mobile app technology is helping to thwart attempts to limit democratic rights and freedoms."

Recently named by Forbes as America's sixth most promising company, AnchorFree has seen an explosion of popularity in Hotspot Shield, the world's most popular consumer virtual private network (VPN), which has been downloaded by more than 120 million users worldwide. Each month the software is installed about 5 million times on desktops and 1.5 million times on mobile devices. Hotspot Shield is available as a free download on Google Play and the Apple App Store or from the company's website at http://www.hotspotshield.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.