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Conflict of interest note: Windscribe is commercial open source VPN service provider based in Canada.

ex A ex B
Why is ProtonVPN lying about running price sensitivity testing on their customers?
Their pricing page gives you one of two prices at random. This is A/B testing, but instead they’re saying the price difference is due to remnants of a sale.
Their own code says otherwise.
Price sensitivity testing is when a company quotes different people different prices for the same product to see if sales hold steady at the higher price. Not to be confused with adaptive or dynamic pricing which uses your personal data to adjust prices to you.
People on ProtonVPN’s subreddit noticed they were being quoted different prices for the same thing. ProtonVPN’s General Manager replied that the differences were due to remnants of a recent sale that wasn’t “universally refreshed”.
This was a lie, and we have proof.
PetersonProton📸 of a reddit comment
That proof is their own code sorting every visitor into a price variant. It’s labeled right in the HTML tag:
ab-test:VpnHpAndPricingVpnPlusSensibility300726
Which in plain English is:
VPN Homepage and Pricing for the VPN Plus plan, Sensibility test tagged 30/07/26.
ex C
The price continues to flip-flop as of writing this. Expired sales don’t do this.
Something like a Cloudflare-cached page doesn’t add price sensitivity A/B tests to your HTML code.
Proton, if you want to run A/B tests, at least don’t lie about it to your users.

XP

  • XLE@piefed.socialEnglish
    1·
    9 days ago

    I don’t care if Proton is just as bad as everybody else, assuming that’s even true.

    I care that you refuse to answer

    Do you think that “We are a neutral and safe haven for your personal data, committed to defending your freedom” is fulfilled by a transparency page?

    Because your silence sounds like an admission that you believe Proton is lying.

    • mabeledo@lemmy.world
      1·
      9 days ago

      I care that you refuse to answer.

      And I care that you refused to answer either of my questions, which I asked first.

      Which by the way, makes you a hypocrite.

        • mabeledo@lemmy.world
          1·
          9 days ago

          you’ve admitted Proton is engaged in corporate deceptive practices

          I did not say that. Again, putting your beliefs before the facts.

          But I can play this game too.

          You have admitted that you use a service that necessarily follows the same legal framework as Proton, which makes you a hypocrite. On top of that, your refusal to admit it and your systematic and continuous campaign against Proton, suggests that you may actually be just a marketing asset astroturfing for some other company and/or organization.

            • mabeledo@lemmy.world
              1·
              9 days ago

              Seriously can you dispute that or are you just going to keep going “no u! no u!” every time your precious corporation gets caught

              I would love to, but since you aren’t capable of addressing anything I have said, and would rather replace my arguments with your personal beliefs, I won’t.

              You could have simply said “yeah I use X, and turns out that X also complies with legal subpoenas, even when they say that they are privacy focused and this and that”. Instead, you are on a multi month denial tour where Proton, and only Proton, does this. Which is so consistent and so dishonest, it is hard to believe that there isn’t anything shady behind your drive to discredit them.

                • mabeledo@lemmy.world
                  1·
                  9 days ago

                  You just insinuated that I’m a shill, and now you complain that I’m getting back at you?

                  First you complain about me not answering your questions when you ignore mine, now this. What a fucking hypocrite.