Threat Manager: Block app trackers in a tap Threat Manager: Block app trackers in one tap
Take back some control over what companies know about you and what you do online through apps and websites. Introducing Threat Manager—included in your ExpressVPN subscription.
Block harmful trackers with Threat Manager
Some apps and websites share your usage information with third parties, most of whom can be considered fairly harmless—but some are known to track activity or engage in malicious behavior.
What is Threat Manager?
Ever notice that you start seeing lots of related ads after using an app or a website? That’s because various online services—especially apps—record and then share your activity with third-party companies. This collected information is then used to serve you more targeted ads and content, and this entire process often happens without your knowledge or consent.
Many popular web browsers now include features that limit the third-party companies that websites can communicate with, reducing the amount of unauthorized sharing. However, this doesn’t cover all browsers and often doesn’t apply to apps—which is where Threat Manager comes in.
Built to complement your VPN experience, Threat Manager prevents all apps and websites on your device from communicating with a set of third parties known to track activity or engage in malicious behavior. This gives you more control over your online privacy and how your data is being used.
How does Threat Manager work?
Threat Manager prevents any part of your device from communicating with servers that are listed on our “blocklist” of trackers and malicious sites. We keep this blocklist updated regularly. Read why our method of blocking offers greater safety.
Threat Manager is available on ExpressVPN Aircove, our VPN router, and within the ExpressVPN apps for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux as part of the advanced protection features we offer.
Read more about setting up Threat Manager on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Enhance your VPN experience with Threat Manager
A VPN makes sure that operators of the pipes of the internet, such as your internet service provider (ISP) and its subcontractors, cannot see what you do online. But even so, any app or website that you use might record your activities and share that data with third parties.
For example, a news app or website might record which articles you’ve read and share that data with another company, which uses this information to build a digital profile on you. Your digital profile may then be used to help other companies decide which ads and articles to show you. Threat Manager helps to limit some of this sharing.
This means when you use ExpressVPN with Threat Manager, not only is your online traffic shielded from some companies, but the activity that does get collected is not shared as widely. Threat Manager also follows ExpressVPN’s privacy policy of never keeping activity logs or connection logs, so you can browse with greater privacy.
FAQs
Is Threat Manager similar to a DNS blocker?
Yes, Threat Manager is a DNS-based traffic blocker. It works in much the same way as other DNS filtering solutions—by blocking access to certain servers that are known to contain trackers or malicious entities.
Is Threat Manager safe?
Yes! Threat Manager has been carefully engineered to safeguard your device and minimize as much risk as possible. Here’s how we ensure our apps are free of malware.
Threat Manager also follows ExpressVPN’s strict privacy policy. ExpressVPN doesn’t want to know what you’re doing online, which is why we ensure we never keep activity logs or connection logs.
Is Threat Manager free to use?
Threat Manager is a free additional feature on ExpressVPN apps and Aircove, our VPN router.
As long as you have an active ExpressVPN subscription, you can use Threat Manager on your iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux devices—or on all your devices if you have Aircove and they are connected to it.
How do I use Threat Manager with ExpressVPN?
If you’re using our iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, or Linux app, you can set up Threat Manager in just a few seconds. You’ll first need to ensure you are using Lightway as your protocol or the “Automatic” protocol setting on your app.
On iOS and Android, tap on Options > Settings > toggle on the Threat Manager feature.
On Mac, click on Settings > Preferences > Threat Manager > click on the box to toggle on Threat Manager.
On Windows, click on the Menu icon > Options > Threat Manager > click on the box to toggle on Threat Manager.
On Linux, you can toggle on Threat Manager within the Terminal by running the following command:
expressvpn preferences set block_trackers true
If you’re using Aircove, Threat Manager is already set up with the router.
What devices can I use Threat Manager on?
Threat Manager is available on the ExpressVPN apps for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux.
You can also use Threat Manager on all your devices by connecting them to Aircove.
Enjoy VPN protection while avoiding online threats
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