Digital copyright mismanagement has become a real barrier on the globalized internet front where information is typically available to everyone. Are you living in a country where certain websites and media are frequently blocked? If so you’ve probably seen plenty of music and video content that can’t be displayed. Hola Unblocker is a browser extension that uses a crowd sourced DNS and VPN solution to allow access to sites that otherwise wouldn’t be available to certain regions.
How to Use it
The add-on is simple and straight forward to use. Just browse to the blocked website, click the add-on icon, and then select the country to “spoof” your location with. Once enabled, you should immediately be able to see content from that site after refreshing the page. That’s all! Additional customization can be made but it will take some developer know-how (see the section below).
Privacy Concern
Hola’s privacy policy is rather vague on a few key points. Data retention is one of them: Also be aware that using the service allows Hola to collect data on your web browsing habits and history: Although I’m not too worried about it (which is why I’m OK telling our groovyReaders about it), my recommendation would be to disable the extension when you don’t need it.
Extras
There is an Android version available as well. Be aware that it has reported stability issues and may not be compatible with some devices without rooting.
For developers: Hola offers an open API for customizing unblocking scripts. The explanation of the API can be found on the github.
Comment Name * Email *
Δ Save my name and email and send me emails as new comments are made to this post.
