VPN keeps openign Safari by itself

VPN (VPNIFY) keeps opening Safari by itself. How do I prevent it from controlling my computer? thanks.

Posted on Jul 21, 2025 08:41 AM

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4 replies

Jul 21, 2025 08:51 AM in response to mickr7an

By getting rid of the VPN.


Unless you truly need a VPN for a secure, direct connection to your place of work, school, or other instance where the server you're accessing requires you to use a VPN, you don't need it.


Public VPNs are anything but private.


A VPN can do absolutely nothing to hide any data going between you and the site you're viewing since only half of the communication is encrypted. Anything going to the site from the VPN and back to it is in the clear, or the site you're accessing would have no idea what to do with the encrypted data.


A VPN has only two uses:


1. You're using it to send and receive content from a truly tunneled VPN at your place of employment. Only the servers at the office get the unencrypted data from you as output from the VPN. Anything coming back to you is encrypted. Meaning, anyone trying to capture data between you and the office will only ever see encrypted data. A hacker would have to somehow breach the business' server on the clear input/output side, or your end to get anything.


2. You're trying to hide yourself. Since a VPN encrypts what's coming back to you, it does a good job at hiding what IP address the data is going back to (and as the link above mentions, even this doesn't do a good job of hiding you anymore). However, any and all VPNs log this data. If you do anything illegal and law enforcement tracks the clear data back to the VPN (and they can), they'll demand log data to see what IP address the data was output to. The site running the VPN will give you up. They aren't going to go to jail for what you do.


Free VPNs sell your data (just one of many sites explaining this)


This isn't exactly breaking news. It's been known for a very long time that free VPNs (in particular) log and sell your data. How else do you think they pay for their servers? Almost all paid, and 100% of free VPNs actually make you less secure. Willingly giving up all of your personal web usage is in no way a plus for you.


It's the same model as Google, and in particular, Chrome. You are the product. Chrome runs a background daemon from the moment you turn your computer on, whether Chrome itself is running or not. Its job is to constantly send anonymized data back to Google about your web and personal computer usage.


No matter what web site you're communicating with, only what you send to the VPN and it sends back to you is encrypted. Every bit of data out of the VPN to the site you're visiting, and from there back to the VPN is the same as using no VPN at all. It has to be, or the sites you're visiting would just get a load of encrypted data they can't do anything with. NordVPN has recently been sued for deceptive practices by making it nearly impossible to unsubscribe.


VPN reviews you find online are also almost completely untrustworthy:


Former Malware Distributor Kape Technologies Now Owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Zenmate, and a Collection of VPN “Review” Websites


And in the modern internet world, you don’t need a VPN anyway. Most web sites now use HTTPS (secure communication). When you connect to such a site, a one-time use encryption key is generated between your browser and the site. All communication for that site is then already encrypted. A VPN does nothing but uselessly encrypt the encryption. It varies with the browser you’re using, but Safari indicates a secure connection with a small icon of a lock by the URL of the site.

Jul 21, 2025 08:50 AM in response to mickr7an

If the app does not have an uninstaller, follow the instructions here to remove the configuration , then if you have the app in your Applications folder, delete it from there as well:

  1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click VPN  in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
  2. On the right, click the Info button  next to the VPN service you want to remove.
  3. Click Remove Configuration, then confirm you want to remove it.


After you do those steps, I would recommend to post the free EtreCheck report to confirm all files have been removed from your Launch Folders. VPN's are notorious for installing files there that are not removed when you delete the app from your Applications folder. The report contains no personal information.

How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community


Jul 21, 2025 09:10 AM in response to mickr7an

mickr7an wrote:

I need the VPN for work, so it is not an option to delete it. But surely there's a setting somewhere on the Mac to allow me to prevent it from opening Safari. If anybody knows this, please let me know. Thank you.

There is not. A VPN can open any browser and it makes no difference if you are using Safari or not. If you installed Chrome, Brave, or any other browser and set that as the Default App, then that would be the one that is opened. It is the functionality of VPNIFY that is doing that. They have their reasons, which is usually related to monetization, so if the Developer does not give you the option to stop that behavior using their VPN, then removing it is your only option.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

VPN keeps openign Safari by itself

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