Can I trust Urban VPN Premium: Secure VPN?
This app did not meet two or more trust checks, has a critical issue in one, or has a red flag.
- Avoid if
- Users relying on a VPN for privacy protection
- What it means for you
- The build includes code to send app usage and crash data to Firebase Analytics, Firebase Crashlytics, and Google ad measurement services. The build also bundles GeoSurf (Bright Data), a residential proxy network SDK. Whether this configuration routes external traffic through the device's internet connection was not tested. Push notifications are handled by OneSignal.
- Main concern
- Play Store 'no data sharing' claim contradicted by active third-party analytics transmissions
- The developer's description
- Urban VPN Premium: Protect your identity, secure your device, and hide your IP. Connect to 600+ global VPN servers in 419 locations. Features include split tunneling, kill switch, encrypted connections, and no activity logs. Works across Android, desktop, and browser extensions.
- Third-party services
- 21
- Findings rated low or higher
- 12
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Full findings
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Trust checks
Secure by Design
One criterion not metSecurity gaps detected
Why this result
This check looks for security issues at high severity or above in the code of this build, and at least one was recorded. Issues of this kind include a credential or token another app on the device can reach, sensitive data stored without protection, and network paths that expose information in transit.
Data Minimization
One criterion not metTracking lacks clear disclosure
Why this result
This build contains analytics or attribution code written to send data to companies other than the developer. No consent step was found before that code runs, and the app's disclosures do not describe the collection in full. Tracking by itself is ordinary; what this check reports is the combination of collection, recipient and absent disclosure.
Manifest Mismatch
An item rated high or above is openDisclosure incomplete or contradicted
Why this result
The check compares the app's privacy disclosures against what the code does, and at least one claim did not match in this build. Mismatches of this kind include a data category collected but not disclosed, a recipient the disclosure omits, and an identifier attached to data the disclosure describes as anonymous.
User Control
StrongNo lock-in
Why this result
The check looks for a way to export the data an account has accumulated and a way to delete the account itself. In this build, either both were found, or the app has no account of its own and keeps its data on the device. For an app without an account, the developer has no server-side copy to export or delete, and deleting the app removes the data in its own storage.
No barriers to leaving the service were found. The paid subscription is managed through Google Play and can be cancelled at any time through the user's Google account. The app stores VPN connection preferences locally on the device, and there is no evidence of proprietary data formats trapping user-generated content or of obstacles to switching to a competing VPN provider.
Red flags
The app's privacy declarations do not match its code
Why this result
The privacy declarations shipped in this build, or the ones on the store listing, state less than the code does. Declarations of this kind are what a store, a regulator and a person comparing two apps rely on.
Strengths
- All network traffic to Urban VPN servers uses encrypted HTTPS connections with no cleartext exceptions
- Firebase Auth session tokens are protected using Android Keystore-backed encryption
- Google Advertising ID collection within Firebase Analytics is explicitly suppressed via manifest flags
What the app contains
21 services
Third-party services the scan names in the build:
- Firebase Analytics
- Firebase Auth
- Firebase Crashlytics
- Firebase Remote Config
- Firebase Messaging (FCM)
- Firebase Performance
- Firebase Installations
- Firebase A/B Testing
- Google Play Billing
- Google Sign-In
- Google reCAPTCHA
- Google Tink
- Google App Measurement
- Google AdServices
- OneSignal
- Huawei Push (HMS)
- WireGuard
- OpenVPN3
- PairIP DRM
- GeoSurf (Bright Data)
- Coil
Libraries
| Library | Version | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Room | not recorded | none confirmed |
| Google Play Billing | not recorded | none confirmed |
| Datatransport | not recorded | none confirmed |
| Google Sign-In | 12451000 | none confirmed |
| Google Play Services | 12451000 | none confirmed |
| Google Play Services Location | 12451000 | none confirmed |
| Material Components | not recorded | none confirmed |
| Play Core | not recorded | none confirmed |
| Play Integrity | not recorded | none confirmed |
| Firebase | not recorded | none confirmed |
Show all 19 librariesShow fewer
Changes since the previous scan
- Version 3.5.0 (versionCode 58), score 41.
- Score 70 before, 41 after.
- Version 3.4.0 before, 3.5.0 (versionCode 58) after.
- Score change since version 3.4.0: -29 points.
- Since the previous scan: 13 findings added, 8 removed.
- Version 3.4.0, score 70.
- First public scan of this app.
Method and limits
Static analysis: the decompiled code, manifest and resources of this build, read file by file. Network traffic at run time is established by a capture of the running app.
- Build SHA-256
- 72f7785bf9d18d05152f18f636e8a5d60f54c61ce236d69fd1f5b4032071f597
- Rule pack
- citt-ruleset-2026-08-v1
- Files decompiled
- 9,969
- Scan date
- 12 August 2026
Corrections
No correction is published for this app.
Developer response
No response is published for this app.
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