Wheelings & Dealings: Opera Boosts Online Privacy with SurfEasy Buy

Ever since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden blew the lid off of government spying on U.S. citizens, online privacy has been a big focus for tech companies, who are looking to hone their bona fides as consumer advocates. The latest move on that front is Opera Software’s buy of SurfEasy.

SurfEasy began life four years ago as a service for consumers and businesses to control their online privacy and protect their personal information from hacking, monitoring and censorship. It offers freemium apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone and iPad devices, as well as a USB stick-based VPN product, dubbed SurfEasy Private Broswer.

Going forward, Opera will keep the company intact (and existing customers will see no change). But the two companies will collaborate on joint products in the future, expanding on Opera’s product footprint and the SurfEasy privacy protection suite.

“More and more Internet users are starting to question whether they can trust the internet these days, and are actively looking for secure solutions for their phone or computer,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software. “Privacy and security has always been top of mind for Opera’s users, making the acquisition of SurfEasy a seamless fit. Opera has evolved beyond our browser roots and this step will add a critical building block towards a broader portfolio of applications.”

Internet companies have been embracing online privacy in an almost snowball-like fashion, with end-to-end encryption initiatives (including from Yahoo! earlier this week) and a move to http-based URLs becoming common. Anonymous browsers like Tor, which makes Web surfing untraceable, are also giving companies like Opera a run for their money, and necessitating an appropriate response from mainstream browsers.

“We’re thrilled to be teaming up with Opera Software, a respected global Internet company with over 350 million users,” said Chris Houston, founder and CEO at Opera. “This, the next step in our company’s evolution, will help us accelerate our vision of providing the best applications, service and support to help you take back control of your online privacy.”