Overview
- Opera announced Thursday that its free, built‑in browser VPN can be configured to turn on automatically whenever the browser detects a public or unsecured Wi‑Fi network.
- The new auto‑connect option is strictly opt‑in and appears in Opera's settings as an "always use VPN on public Wi‑Fi" toggle, with rollout starting in the United States and France.
- Opera's free VPN protects only traffic inside the Opera browser, so apps and system services remain unprotected unless a user upgrades to Opera VPN Pro or uses a separate system VPN.
- Opera says the free service requires no account, has no fixed bandwidth cap, operates under GDPR rules, and has had its no‑logs claims independently audited by Deloitte.
- The change builds on Opera's long history with an integrated VPN since 2016 and aims to close the gap between users knowing they should use a VPN and actually doing so given low global adoption (about 23% in mid‑2026).