Do I Need a VPN in Hong Kong? Advice From an Average Guy “on the Ground” & on the Web

Having undergone extreme political turmoil and censorship in the past decade, a common question I receive from travelers and expats moving to Hong Kong is, “Do I need a VPN in Hong Kong to access Google and other specific websites?” 

While VPNs may seem like “overkill” and a tool “only for those engaged in seditious or unlawful activities,” that’s far from their complete purpose or reality. There are countless reasons why you might consider using a VPN not only in Hong Kong but anywhere in the world. 

Hint hint: you may want to access your favorite streaming service that isn’t available or a specific catalog of shows or movies that is only available in your home country. And that television show may or may not be ‘Love Island’.

Below, I’ll walk you through if you actually need a VPN in Hong Kong, a bit about Hong Kong’s online privacy landscape, what I’m experiencing and staying mindful of when it comes to transmitting data online, and effective tips to safeguard your online presence in a jurisdiction undergoing monumental changes on all fronts. 

Can I Use a VPN in Hong Kong?

Absolutely. It is legal to use a VPN in Hong Kong. Thanks to Hong Kong’s establishment as a ‘Special Administrative Region’ (SAR), it retains a semi-autonomous status that allows for an “open and free internet.” 

Popular websites and social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Twitch are all available in Hong Kong without the need for a VPN. 

However, with the 1997 Handover to China, subsequent political unrest, encroaching Chinese regulation and influence, erosion of the rule of law, and the passage of the National Security Law, the legality of VPNs may begin to mirror that of Mainland China in the future – which has deemed them illegal (and takes proactive measures to block access to them).

Do I Actually Need a VPN in Hong Kong?

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” 

First, a VPN is not needed to access the internet or Google in Hong Kong.  While Hong Kong’s internet is not explicitly restricted by ‘Big Brother’ and the ‘Great Firewall of China’, there is still cause for concern that censorship and access to specific websites/information may be restricted or prohibited in the future. 

Theoretically, you could live your entire life in Hong Kong without using a VPN and be completely fine. However, it really just depends on what you value and what you want to protect online. The need for using a VPN in Hong Kong largely depends on your individual preferences and concerns about security and online privacy. 

For example, if you value enhanced web browsing privacy, want to securely access geo-restricted online content, or want to protect your personal information and data from surveillance or malicious actors, using a VPN in Hong Kong may be recommended. 

However, if you don’t connect to public WiFi, are uncomfortable with new technology, typically browse the internet in environments with robust security networks (such as your home or workplace), or perceive your online activities as “low-risk,” then a VPN might not be needed. 

While there’s a high probability that connecting to a public WiFi or public hotspot won’t lead to your personal and sensitive data being stolen or doxxing yourself, why not minimize the chance and prevent the “one in a million” fluke that something bad does happen? 

Most VPNs cost no more than a cup of coffee (by Hong Kong prices) per month and can save you from considerable headaches and hassle in the future. 

This isn’t to fearmonger at all – VPNs are an essential tool and mechanism for anyone connecting to and browsing the internet, no matter their location. 

Why You Might Consider Using a VPN in Hong Kong

For me, the risks of not using a VPN in Hong Kong far outweigh the benefits and are a major reason why I always strive to stay mindful and use one while in public settings.

Censorship & Surveillance Considerations

While Hong Kong’s internet is widely accepted to be free from any form of censorship, it does appear that the grip is slowly (or quickly) tightening on specific issues and topics in Hong Kong. 

Case #1 of Hong Kong’s Shrinking Internet

In a recent case involving an unregulated crypto exchange JPEX which saw investors defrauded out of an estimated $180 million, the Hong Kong government blocked access to their website. 

While you might be saying, “Yeah, they are scammers and frauds, they deserve everything that comes their way.” It’s less about their heinous act rather it is that the government does boast unfettered discretion to block websites completely in the city – something previously thought to be unheard of. 

Second, with the rise of telephone and internet scammers in Hong Kong (if you live here and have a Hong Kong phone number, then you know that the barrage of scam calls never stops), the Hong Kong Communications Authority has made a concentrated push to crack down on this.

Case #2 of Hong Kong’s Shrinking Internet

You might also be saying, “I hate receiving those text messages and calls and actually know someone who was scammed out of a significant sum of money, so I am in support of this.” Sure, I get where you’re coming from but the Communications Authority injected a new clause into the Unified Carrier Licenses, which governs phone, internet, and telecommunication providers and services in the city. 

This new clause empowers the government to block the transmission or delivery of electronic communications that involve “fraudulent use.” Further, it codifies “any relevant law enforcement agency” to take appropriate action to remedy this issue. Like a healthy chunk of Hong Kong legislation, it’s overly broad and vague, with the terms “fraudulent use” and “any relevant law enforcement agency” boasting zero further clarification. 

Finally, we all know the stir that Hong Kong’s infamous protest song ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ caused. After all, words are incredibly dangerous according to the Hong Kong government and worth wasting time and effort on to prosecute and censor. After a string of incidents at several international sporting events (i.e. fans singing ‘Glory to Hong Kong’), the Hong Kong secretary of justice applied for an injunction to outlaw the distribution, storage, and publication of the song on the internet. 

The injunction was rejected by the High Court, with the presiding judge citing the “chilling effects” such censorship would have on the fundamental expression of speech. The Hong Kong Government has since appealed this ruling and it appears that they will continue to do so. 

Authoritarian rule eventually decides to make an example out of someone (or multiple people as we’ve seen), so it’s best to cover your bases to ensure that it isn’t you.

If You Want to Stream Geo-Blocked Shows

The amount of movie and television show titles on the ‘Hong Kong Netflix’ is considerably lower than that of the U.S. catalog. This is because each country boasts its own catalog of original and licensed media. A VPN comes into play as once you create your account for a specific streaming service (such as Netflix), it can’t later be changed (unless you officially move there). 

A VPN helps you bypass these geographical restrictions and access the streaming catalog and services of the country you want – ensuring that you don’t miss whatever trashbag television shows or movies from your home country that you can’t live without. 

Further, I can’t even access Hulu in Hong Kong without a VPN due to its lack of availability outside of the United States. One important note about Hulu though is that you do have to disable your VPN anonymizer, otherwise, you likely won’t be able to bypass Hulu’s geo-blocking.  

If You Travel to the Mainland (Or Other Countries With Restricted Internet) 

If you are traveling through Hong Kong and planning on checking out the Mainland (just right across the border), or you live in Hong Kong and are required to go for work, then you may consider getting a VPN. 

I have a friend whose past job required him to travel to Mainland China several times per week and at first, he’d always go missing as we were unable to communicate with him on WhatsApp. 

He is also a bigger “trash bag” than me when it comes to watching YouTube and other social media videos, so he needed a VPN to ensure that he didn’t miss out on staying connected/up to date with his shows. 

If You Frequently Work in Public (ex. Cafe or Coworking Space)

With public WiFi, you always run the risk that it isn’t secure, meaning that a third party (a malicious third party) can position themselves between you and your connection. What this means is that instead of sending and/or transmitting personal and private information and data to the hotspot you thought you were engaging with, they are intercepting it. 

This includes your credit card information, social security number, address, sensitive emails, and any other private information. 

This isn’t just at public cafes or coworking spaces either, it also includes the MTR, airport, and malls. 

Hackers and malicious actors can also weaponize this unsecured connection to install malware on your computer which can siphon other protected information from your computer such as passwords, critical files, and even money (ex. With the rise of cryptocurrency, this is a popular attack that many are experiencing).

4 Situations I Use a VPN in Hong Kong

There are four primary situations where I use a VPN in Hong Kong. 

• The first is when I work in a public setting and connect to a public WiFi. I’ve been working for myself for the last 8 years now, which involves a lot of working out of cafes, breweries, and coworking spaces. 
• The second is when I want to watch Netflix’s U.S. catalog of shows (also, I used it heavily when I still had a Hulu account). 
• The third is when I need to use ChatGPT for work or personal projects or figure out how to do simple Excel spreadsheet work. 
• Fourth, my client work requires browsing and navigating a lot of U.S. court documents and government websites, which often block access from specific countries. 

Pale Ale Travel Tip: If you’re in Hong Kong and wondering how you can use ChatGPT, make sure to check out my comprehensive guide explaining ‘How to Access ChatGPT in Hong Kong’.

How to Choose the Right VPN in Hong Kong

While there are countless factors to consider when choosing a VPN, I look for the following key features (that I hold to be paramount) when selecting one – all of which are relevant to my positioning and living in Hong Kong. 

Privacy Logs

I do look to see how long a VPN provider retains privacy logs and if there is a record of handing them over to governments. While I’m not a controversial or political figure, I don’t ever want to find myself in a situation where a government is subpoenaing my data to recover it and use it against me.

While “free VPNs” may be appealing, once again, the majority of respected VPNs in the market cost no more than a cup of coffee per month. A large percentage of “free VPNs” aren’t entirely free in the way that they have no problem selling your data/profiting off of selling your personal information to brokers, advertisers, and other third parties.

Speed

As mentioned above, a sound VPN should not ultimately slow down your browsing experience. This includes upload, download, and ping speeds. To ensure that you choose a VPN that isn’t going to slow things down to an excruciating level, I recommend first checking for third-party speed results on both Mac and Windows (depending on whichever you use), as one may be faster than the other. 

Device Compatibility

If you’re one of those people who owns thirty-five devices and somehow uses them all simultaneously (seriously, there are some of you out there), then it’s important to look for a VPN that you can use across multiple devices (and at the same time).

Kill Switch

A kill switch will automatically disconnect your internet if your VPN connection suddenly stops, preventing your data and browsing information from being intercepted or broadcasted publicly. 

Price

I think this is one of the most negligible factors to consider when choosing a VPN as the potential value of your internet activity, information, and data that it protects far outweighs the monthly membership fee. I’d choose a VPN over a streaming service any day of the week if I had to choose one to pay for. 

VPNs I’ve Used in Hong Kong & Recommend

There’s really only three VPNs that I’ve used in my life that I would still recommend – the first being the VPN that fits my life and browsing needs better than a pair of underpants fresh out the dryer.   

ExpressVPN

For the last three-plus years, I’ve been using ExpressVPN as my dedicated VPN in Hong Kong. I first heard of it as my best friend’s wife was working there at the time and had nothing but great things to say about the company. 

I also knew that my father had been using ExpressVPN for quite some time and enjoyed it due to being able to pair it with multiple devices (he’s one of those guys who likes a device in every room). It was also extremely easy to set up and is intuitive to navigate – it’s literally a one-click ‘Connect’ type of ‘app’/’mechanism’.

ExpressVPN has been a godsend for me over the years. It’s extremely quick, meaning connection time and page load speed don’t suffer because of it, has countless locations that I can connect from (depending on what I need to do/if one is unavailable), and has allowed me to keep up with U.S. streaming services (like Netflix and Hulu) to successfully watch from their catalogs. 

Further, it allows you to pair it and connect to 8 separate devices, which I’ve definitely made the most of – setting it up on a second computer, tablet, and several phones. However, only one device can be connected at a time. The only time this has come into play as an issue for me was when I was gambling heavily on a tablet of mine and wanting to stream U.S. Netflix shows at the same time. 

While it’s a bit on the pricier side compared to VPNs like NordVPN and Surfshark (both VPNs that I’ve used in the past and recommend to this day), foregoing one extra coffee from a cafe or restaurant every month ensures that it isn’t “breaking the bank” (so to speak). 

NordVPN

NordVPN is what I would consider the best bang-for-your-buck VPN as it supports countless devices (Microsoft, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and more) and even had its “no-log policy” audited and verified by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Further, it allows for unlimited bandwidth and is generally considered the “fastest VPN” on the market for download, streaming, and browsing speeds. 

Surfshark 

One of the major advantages of Surfshark that I like is that it appeals to my Bitcoin and crypto maximalist heart and allows you to pay in crypto if you’d like to further reduce any chances of linking your personal information to the product. 

Surfshark’s starter subscription is just under USD 2 per month, it’s based in the Netherlands (which is generally praised for having strong privacy and personal data protection laws), and it boasts an unlimited number of devices to pair with (under a single account). The limiting feature for me is that it was slower than NordVPN and was occasionally quite buggy when I used it.

The VPN I Wouldn’t Recommend Using in Hong Kong

While PureVPN is dirt cheap, I stopped using it and opted for ExpressVPN due to some controversy surrounding PureVPN allegedly handing over user data in a Massachusetts criminal case. They had previously touted their “no logs” policy, and while I am in agreement that what the user was doing on their platform was unlawful (and unethical), it doesn’t look good that PureVPN had actually lied. 

Finally, as mentioned above, I would not recommend using free VPNs in Hong Kong due to the overwhelmingly high percentage of them that sell your personal data and information to third parties.

Pale Ale Travel Tip: If you’re a digital nomad getting ready to set out on your next adventure, make sure to check out my post breaking down essential digital nomad tools to make it a productive, safe, successful adventure.

Using a VPN in Hong Kong Depends Entirely on Your Privacy & Browsing Needs

I was actually first introduced to VPNs when I was living in Beijing in 2009. I’m not going to get into the details of why exactly I needed one. But I was a 19-year-old university student with an insatiable libido appetite for knowledge.

Since then, I’ve used a VPN religiously while living and working from locations all around the world. While I’m sure I’ve slipped up more times than I can count and connected to public WiFi without much forethought, as far as I know, I have successfully staved off any crippling financial and/or privacy attacks – other than one time where a guy in Saudi Arabia charged my credit card $3 for a prepaid phone card.  

If you have any questions about using a VPN in Hong Kong or any further recommendations about which VPN to use, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me in the comments or via email (info@palealetravel.com). 

I’d also love to hear your thoughts in the comments if you use a VPN and why or why not – when you typically use one (if at all)! 

Stay private everyone,

Big Body