Structural risks
These risks apply to every Kape Technologies product. They are legal obligations and corporate
practices that individual products cannot override. A subsidiary cannot opt out of an
FTC consent decree. A company cannot selectively ignore its home country's intelligence
law for one product. These risks set a grade floor of
D — no Kape Technologies product
can score better than this, regardless of its own privacy settings.
critical
Formerly Crossrider adware platform
2018-01-01
Kape operated as Crossrider (2011-2018), a browser extension SDK classified as adware by Symantec and MalwareBytes. UC Berkeley/Google identified Crossrider as a major ad injector affiliate. CEO admitted 2018 rebrand was to "distance from past activities." Same ownership, different name.
high
Sole owner Teddy Sagi convicted of fraud
1996-01-01
Teddy Sagi, sole owner of Kape via Unikmind Holdings, was convicted of fraud in Israel in 1996. Sagi also donated to Israeli military logistics in 2024-2025, raising ethical concerns for a privacy company.
high
Owns "independent" VPN review sites
2021-01-01
Kape acquired vpnMentor and Wizcase for $149.1M (2021). Post-acquisition, Kape-owned VPNs rose to top recommendations while competitors were dropped. Both sites claim editorial independence. Ownership disclosed only in hidden pop-ups.
high
Went fully private, eliminated public oversight
2023-01-01
Kape delisted from London Stock Exchange in 2023 via Unikmind Holdings at $1.6B valuation. No public financial reporting, no shareholder scrutiny. Subsequently laid off 180 staff (12%) with no public accountability. Key executives departed including ExpressVPN founder and CTO.