Proton made not one, not two, but three announcements today focused on providing uncensored Internet access to some of the most oppressed people on the planet. This is where the best VPNs really come into their own.

While it may not seem like a big step on paper, an uncensored Internet can bring free information away from propaganda, allowing citizens to form their own opinions and hopefully inspire social change. So what about Proton's plan?

If you live in an area where installing a VPN on your phone could get you into serious trouble, Proton will also add a new feature that may save you.

Discreet Icon allows users to hide the Proton VPN icon on their phone. They can hide the app and make it look like something more innocuous, such as a weather forecast, notepad, or to-do list app. This may sound pretty elementary to people in democracies, but for some it could make a big difference.

David Peterson, general manager of Proton VPN, explains, "Some countries have even begun handing over smartphones to their citizens and requiring them to undergo physical searches. Protecting free speech and fighting censorship is at the core of our mission, and we are committed to doing what we can to help users around the world."

Information is everything, and the Internet has done a great job in making that information easily accessible. However, in countries where the Internet is restricted by restrictive governments or other factors, finding things on your own can be difficult. Fortunately, Proton is targeting the countries that are struggling the most and has set up virtual servers in the 12 countries that rank lowest on the Freedom House Index and Democracy Index. Namely, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Yemen.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Proton is bringing its stealth encryption protocol to Windows; Proton Stealth is an open source obfuscation protocol based on WireGuard and TLS. Already released on iOS, Mac, and Android, the Stealth protocol is designed to help users "obfuscate" their connections.

Again, this is really important in countries with restrictions on VPNs, giving people using Windows machines a chance to bypass censorship.