There is a new Google Chrome extension called GOM (Go Away MDA) that claims to bypass censorship and protect onine privacy for just 2 US dollars a month. This may be very tempting to many Internet users because ot is so cheap. But IAPS Security, a top VPN provider, warns users about the down sides of using GOM. Let’s look at both side of the issue then you can decide for yourselves.
GOM Advantages and Disadvantages
The first advantage that people will notice is that GOM is cheap. Personal VPN services can cost as much as 12 US dollars a month. Of course there are VPNs that charge only about 5 US dollars. GOM is also very easy to use, since it is just a simple browser extension. But with personal VPN apps, you can get the same level of ease of use. There are no complicated installation and setup procedures with these apps because they are plug and play. Some people who tried GOM complained that the setup process was tedious and confusing.
Cheap VPN services are limited and not very secure, and GOM shares these disadvantages. GOM protects only browsing and not any other online activity. It cannot secure Skype or other Internet enabled desktop applications, for example. This limitation can be very bad for privacy. For the advertised price of 2 US dollars, you get only 1,000 Mbps while VPN providers can offer much more data allowance and even unlimited data and unlimited use of multiple servers across the globe. Of course there is a lifetime plan for 99 US dollars, which is only 19 months for one of the cheaper VPNs.
GOM is not very fast compared to paid VPN options, but is a lot faster than free VPNs. Compared to our top VPN picks, it moves at a snail’s pace, eating up to three quarters of your regular speed, depending on your location. With popular VPN services, speed is not usually an issue because they have servers all over the world. Testing GOM showed that pages will not always load correctly, and reloading or resetting GOM is needed before they will work. This is also true for free VPNs, but very rarely happens with the good paid options.
One very cool thing about GOM for unblocking websites is that it can detect a blocked site automatically and turn on the VPN feature. There is also a timer that lets you set when the feature will be turned off again. Unfortunately, GOM does not work very well for users in China. The Great Firewall seems to be too much for this new plugin. Other users in Asia also had difficulty getting it to work. This is unfortunate since a lot of users in these areas need it the most. And there isn’t much by way of help content to guide users. GOM’s creator promised success in any countries that practice censorship but it seems there is still a lot of work to be done.
