Back

@syklist it is opt in. Firstly, the extension is not pre installed. It gets installed if you left (primary) click on that button. You can not click on the button and there is no extension. Or if you don't like the button just right click on that VPN button and remove. You need to click the button AND start the login process (with either a Vivaldi or Proton account) before you are not using their service. Isn't that opt in enough for you? You cannot use it without initiating login.

P.S. You only need to remove the extension itself if you previously clicked on the button and installed it.

@ruario

Thanks for clarifying that. There was no obvious installation process so I assumed it was pre-installed. I do not recall being asked to install anything, so I will check how it works on another instance of Vivaldi.

Kudos for having done this via an extension as opposed to what Mozilla did with Firefox when they incorporated Pocket into Firefox in a "non-removable" way.

@syklist the click causes the install. Indeed *that* might not be obvious but you still need to initiate login and agree to sharing your email with Proton before you can use the VPN. Without that you have an extension but it does not do anything. Starting login and agreeing to sharing your email with a third party it should (IMHO) be obvious that you are opting in to something at this point.

Once again, you cannot just use the service without going through these steps. So you are not pre opted in to anything AFAICT.

@ruario

I take the point that you cannot actually use ProtonVPN without explicitly logging in. That is fine.

What I think is still an issue for some like me is that clicking on the VPN button installs the extension without asking.

I remember in my earlier days in 1st/2nd line support removing multiple extra toolbars installed on Windows machines when Internet Explorer was the go-to browser. People just clicked on something without knowing the consequences of that click and hupsakay yet another (not infrequently malware) toolbar appeared on their browser.

So I think a "Do you want to install the ProtonVPN extension Yes-No-Tell Me More" would be a good way of ensuring that users were fully informed during the whole process.

That would also be an ideal moment to explain how useful ProtonVPN is to Vivaldi users. I am here on Mastodon and have posted sporadically on the Vivialdi forums over the years yet the first indication that Vivaldi had partnered with ProtonVPN was when the button appeared on my toolbar.

Informed and happy users are worth their weight in gold.

@syklist Well it is one way to view. However so far we have had more people asking why it has to be downloaded and wasn't bundled.

So honestly I do not think you can please everyone with this.

Anyway, there are no plans right now to introduce more questions, nor plans to bundle and my own personal opinion is that we struck just the right compromise.

@syklist you are logging in with the same account so you already did the step of enabling. You then see less questions. To really see this as a first time user you need to watch what happens for a brand new account that has never used the service before.

@syklist ok I read you again you are not talking about consent for login. You are talking about the install of the extension but the extension does nothing without login.

@syklist keep in mind as well the entire point of having a quick access single click install and other things like integrating our login as an alternative login method, is about easing friction for convenience of our users. If redundant steps are added back, what is even the point?

By the way, our own services like Vivaldi Sync or Vivaldi Social do not say, "Are you sure you want to opt in to this?" before login. The login gives away that you are consenting to use the service.

@syklist and the extension is just a gateway to the service. It's useless on its own.