Identity Cloaker is a relatively small, Czech Republic-based VPN with a website that looks like it hasn’t been updated since the service was launched in 2008.

It markets itself as an “internet privacy protection service" that “protects your privacy by encrypting the data sent over the Internet in the most vulnerable part of the data transmission path and by hiding your IP address."

Lots of VPNs do that; so far so unimpressive. I wanted to know if Identity Cloaker matches up to its competitors in features outside of security too.

I tested every aspect of the VPN including speeds, streaming abilities, torrenting, gaming support, and more… and was mostly underwhelmed. However, the biggest red flag for me was Identity Cloaker’s privacy policy — especially in a VPN that prides itself on “privacy protection".

Read on to find out why I think there are better, safer VPNs out there.

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Streaming — Great for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video

Identity Cloaker was successful in unblocking Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. It was unable to unblock HBO Max, Hulu, or Disney+.

When accessing Netflix, Identity Cloaker allowed me to stream from Netflix libraries all over the world. Additionally, the speeds were fast enough to watch videos in HD — some servers even reached the 25 Mbps speeds you need to stream in UHD.

Unblocked: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video

I was able to stream Netflix US without any problems while connected to a Los Angeles server. I streamed Bojack Horseman and did not experience any lag, buffering, or video quality issues. I also tried out the Dallas server and had the same results.

Different servers gave me access to different Netflix regions. I was able to unblock the Swedish library and stream the Swedish show, Snabba Cash, without issue.

Identity Cloaker also helped me to unblock Netflix libraries in Russia, France, the UK, Canada, Australia, and even Hong Kong.

I was able to watch my favorite shows on Netflix US, UK, Canada, and more

Both the LA and Dallas servers worked with Amazon Prime Video as well. My speeds were fast enough for me to stream I’m Your Woman in HD.

I streamed Amazon Prime Video in high quality with Identity Cloaker

Blocked By: Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+

Although I was connected to a Los Angeles server, Hulu recognized that I was not in an American location.

Rather than presenting me with an error message, there was simply no “play" button to stream any of their videos. I had the same experience when connected to the Dallas server.

I connected to a US server but Hulu wouldn’t let me play any of its videos

HBO Max immediately detected that I was using a VPN or that I was not in their service area. I could not go any further into their website without turning my VPN off. I attempted accessing the platform while connected to the Dallas server, but got the same results.

HBO Max detected Identity Cloaker instantly

Disney+ wouldn’t even let me access the website when connected to Identity Cloaker’s Los Angeles server.

Even after waiting ten minutes, the screen was black and no longer showing any signs of loading. Changing to the Dallas server did not change the results.

I couldn’t access Disney+ with any of the Identity Cloaker servers I tested

Speeds — Mostly Fast With Some Inconsistencies

Identity Cloaker’s speed test results were mostly good with some slower servers across the network.

I tested multiple US servers, along with UK, EU, and Asian servers. Download speeds ranged from 15.7- 80.1 Mbps. Upload speeds ranged from 2.0 - 27.6 Mbps. All of the servers were fast enough for general browsing online and some were fast enough for other activities like UHD streaming, torrenting, or gaming.

Identity Cloaker does not have a built-in speed test feature, so you must use other speed test services to check which one will suit your VPN needs.

Here’s an overview of my result:

Although Identity Cloaker’s speeds vary quite a bit across the network, I was impressed with its speeds overall.

If you’re looking for a service with more consistency though, check out the fastest VPNs we’ve tested.

Are Identity Cloaker’s Speeds Fast Enough for Gaming? Yes, on Local Servers

Some of the nearby Identity Cloaker servers I tested were fast enough for gaming. However, more distant servers gave me high ping that made gaming impossible.

Ping is important for gaming because it measures how quickly your device is communicating with a game server. The higher the ping, the more delay between you and the game — leading to annoying lag.

40-60 ms is considered an acceptable ping for gaming. Over 100 ms will start to cause disruptions to your game, and over 170 ms makes your connection unusable for gaming.

On servers that were nearer to my true location, Identity Cloaker gave me impressive ping results. I enjoyed 26 ms on the London server and 33 ms on the Stockholm server.

However, more distant servers were not good enough for gaming. I measured a ping of 166 ms on the Sydney server and a huge 329 ms on the Hong Kong server. While some increase in ping is to be expected with distance, this does mean Identity Cloaker can make your games unplayable if you’re trying to connect to game servers in distant locations.

If you want to play with friends around the world, I’d choose one of our best VPNs for gaming instead.

That being said, I was particularly pleased to see that the Identity Cloaker app displayed ping rates on its server list — so you can easily see which servers are best for gaming.

Server Network — Few Servers Available

Identity Cloaker has 34 servers across 20 countries, including:

This is a low number of servers when compared to other VPNs. A small server network can lead to overcrowding, so it might be the cause of Identity Cloaker’s slower speeds in some locations.

That being said, there are over 505 IP addresses to choose from and Identity Cloaker seems to be adding more and more over time. However, there are sure to be blacklisted sites for some of the IP addresses as the list is so small.

While the Identity Cloaker app looks a bit dated, I found the servers fairly easy to connect to. Simply start by picking your location from the list of countries and IP addresses.

I particularly liked being able to see the ping on each server

Before you click connect, you have to choose from the “select proxy from" dropdown list. If you don’t choose a proxy in the location of your selected server, it will choose one from either your last session or from near your current location.

This is a disadvantage of using Identity Cloaker; if you forget to choose a proxy, you may not be able to access the websites in the location you’re looking to access.

After you’ve selected your proxy, just click connect and you’re ready to go. It's a pretty simple process, but definitely requires a bit of thought if you have never used a VPN before or don’t know what to look for.

Security — Military-Grade Security

Security is one thing that Identity Cloaker definitely does well.

It uses SSH tunneling and AES 256-cipher military-grade encryption, claiming that this is the same cipher used by the US Department of Defense to keep documents classified.

There’s a kill switch that cuts off your internet traffic if you ever lose connection to the service, too. This is an important feature as it prevents your traffic from defaulting to your ISP and exposing your real location and online activity.

Identity Cloaker also has various protocol options: OpenVPN, L2TP over IPSec, and PPTP. I was glad to see OpenVPN listed as an option; it gives you the best blend of security and speed and is usually my go-to protocol when using a VPN.

L2TP/IPSec is a decent protocol too but I wouldn’t use it if OpenVPN is available. PPTP is much less secure and best avoided.

Lastly, the service offers automatic server switching too — meaning it will change servers at any increment of time you set it to, from every 1 minute to every 240 minutes. This is a great feature for boosting your anonymity as it makes your online movements very hard to track.

The only downside I found was that Identity Cloaker’s server speeds aren’t always consistent, so you might find the fluctuating speeds a bit annoying.

Privacy — Standard Privacy Practices

Identity Cloaker is located in the Czech Republic, which isn’t in the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance (an international intelligence-sharing pact between countries that aren’t privacy-friendly). So that’s good news.

However, the Czech Republic is a member of the European Union — which means it must abide by the EU’s data storage rules requiring data to be stored for 6-12 months.

If a VPN doesn’t log any of your data in the first place, this shouldn’t be a problem. According to Identity Cloaker though, it doesn’t store your online activity but it does store other information about you.

I went through the privacy policy and found the following:

I found these terms very vague

All a VPN should store is your login information (in this case your first and last name, email address, and country). Even then, some VPNs offer anonymous ways to sign up.

In Identity Cloaker’s case, the policy wording is vague and it’s not clear what “demographic information such as preferences and interests" might refer to. I find that a bit worrying.

Since Identity Cloaker’s privacy policy has never undergone independent auditing, we can’t be 100% sure what it really logs and stores. Its unclear privacy policy didn’t do much to reassure me.

If you want a service that guarantees it won’t store or pass on your information, try one of the best no-logs VPNs instead.

Torrenting — Supports Torrenting in Some Locations

Identity Cloaker supports torrenting, however, it limits which servers you use.

When connected to US, UK, or French servers, torrenting is not permitted. Identity Cloaker will even suspend or terminate your account if you attempt to torrent while connected to servers in these three locations. The service’s terms and conditions also explicitly forbid the transfer of copyrighted material.

It can be really easy to accidentally download copyrighted material when torrenting so it feels risky to use a service that could get you in trouble if you do. Although it claims to support P2P traffic, I didn’t feel like Identity Cloaker gave me the anonymity or privacy I needed to torrent safely.

I’d much rather choose one of these safe VPNs for torrenting.

Does Identity Cloaker Work in China? Not Guaranteed

Identity Cloaker has servers in Hong Kong, which is good news if you’re based in China.

However, its customer support team wouldn’t confirm if the service works there or not.

If you’re specifically looking for a VPN that can bypass China’s Great Firewall, you may want to check out some more reliable and consistent VPNs for China. In a place with strict internet usage laws and censorship, you’ll need a more powerful VPN.

Simultaneous Device Connections — Unlimited

Identity Cloaker allows unlimited device connections for its users. Most VPNs place restrictions on simultaneous connections, so it was great to be able to use the service on as many devices as I liked.

To assess the performance, I conducted a test where I utilized the service simultaneously on my cell phone and laptop. I connected both devices to a UK server and successfully streamed the UK Netflix movie Love and Monsters on both devices concurrently. Notably, I did not encounter any lag or noticeable decrease in speed on either device.

Device Compatibility — Compatible Across a Range of Devices

Identity Cloaker supports Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, and browsers, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari.

Each type of device requires a different installation method. There are native apps for both Windows, macOS, and Android that you can find on the Windows Store, App Store, and Google Play Store respectively.

There is also a “portable" version of the app for Windows users that do not have administrative rights.

There’s no native app for iOS, which is disappointing. If you’re an iPhone or iPad user, Identity Cloaker lists instructions on how to install the VPN configuration on your device. Other than having to type in the lengthy, random “secret", I found the process easy to follow.

I was disappointed there was no native iOS app though

Although the website says the Android version is pre-release, there is still an option to download the file. You also can access older versions of Identity Cloaker with the provided access key.

I downloaded the macOS app for my laptop. The interface is relatively basic and dated. However, I did like that the servers are labeled with detailed information that helps you choose.

The simple layout makes the app easy to navigate. You can change your connection settings via the settings button on the top left corner. You can reset your basic settings, set proxy timers, block the Internet when Cloaker is not working, and even set a local proxy address if you wish.