Opera

Is Opera safe?

Yes, for everyday browsing. Opera runs on the same Chromium engine as Chrome, pays outside researchers to find bugs, and fixed the two serious flaws found in recent years quickly. It is not a private browser, though. Its mobile apps carry advertising SDKs, Apple's privacy label lists location, device ID and advertising data used for third-party ads, and both the ad blocker and tracker blocker start switched off. We score it 67/100: ahead of Microsoft Edge (64) and Google Chrome (59), and well behind Brave (80).

Who owns Opera?

Opera began as a Norwegian company, and its browsers are still run by Opera Norway AS, which is the data controller under its privacy statement. The listed company above it, Opera Limited, trades on Nasdaq. Its annual report for 2025 says Kunlun Tech, a Chinese internet company listed in Shenzhen, owns about 68% of the shares, and that Opera's executive chairman is Kunlun's controlling shareholder. The report itself warns that Kunlun and the chairman are subject to Chinese law.

What that means for your data is less dramatic than it sounds. Opera says its servers sit in data centres in the Netherlands, the US, Canada, Nigeria, Iceland and Singapore, and its privacy statement names no transfers to China. Complaints go to Datatilsynet, Norway's data protection authority. We found no evidence that browsing data goes to Kunlun. The ownership is still a fact worth knowing if you choose a browser partly on trust.

How much data does Opera collect?

Less than Chrome, more than Firefox. Apple's label for the iPhone app lists no "used to track you" section and nothing linked to your identity. But the data that is collected, including coarse location, a device ID, how you use the app and advertising data, is listed as used for third-party advertising. On Android the Google Play label says Opera shares device IDs with other companies for advertising and collects web browsing history for app functions, analytics and personalisation.

The privacy statement, updated on 2 October 2026, explains why. Opera earns money from ads, search deals and sponsored Speed Dials. Some apps show targeted ads from "monetization partners" using your IP address, a hashed user ID and general location, and personalised ads need consent. Opera builds broad interest categories from the kinds of domains you visit, but says it does not log your full history for this or share it. The statement says plainly: "We do not sell users' personal data to anyone." It also names the third-party SDKs in the mobile apps, including AppsFlyer, the Facebook SDK, Google AdMob and Outbrain.

Opera GX, the gaming version, has its own label. It lists data used for Opera's own advertising and marketing, rather than for third-party ads, and nothing linked to you.

What the free VPN does and does not do

Opera's built-in VPN is free, has no data cap and needs no account. Opera calls it "a no-log service" and says traffic is encrypted with AES-256. It is a browser feature, not a device VPN: the App Store listing says it "encrypts your browsing traffic", so other apps keep using your normal connection. It hides your IP address from sites and protects you on hotel or café Wi-Fi, but Opera's own help pages warn that sites "can still identify you if they have set a cookie".

Opera has had the free VPN's no-log claim checked. Deloitte was given access to the VPN infrastructure for desktop, Android and iOS from 18 June to 10 August 2024, and Opera says the audit found its no-log policy was followed. The paid VPN Pro is different: its servers are provided with Nord, whose own no-log audits Opera points to, and Deloitte's check did not cover it.

How secure is Opera?

Opera inherits Chromium's sandbox and security fixes and adds features of its own. Those extras are where researchers have found trouble. In November 2023 Guardio Labs reported "MyFlaw", a bug in Opera's My Flow file-sharing feature that could let a malicious extension run a file on your computer; Opera says it fixed it five days later. In 2024 Guardio showed "CrossBarking", in which an extension from the Chrome Web Store could reach Opera's private APIs to capture the screen or change settings. Opera fixed it in September 2024. In both cases Opera said it found no sign of use in attacks.

Opera posts smaller fixes on its security blog too, such as a GX mods flaw reported by an outside researcher and patched in July 2026. It has run a public bug bounty on Bugcrowd since March 2021, and its Android app shows Google Play's badge for an independent security review. Fraud and malware protection, which checks pages against lists of phishing and malware sites, is on by default. One gap: the privacy statement says synced bookmarks are kept until you delete your account, but does not say how sync data is encrypted.

How to use Opera more safely

1. Open the settings and switch on "Block ads" and the tracker blocker. They are off until you do.
2. Turn off usage statistics and crash reports under Privacy and security if you do not want to send them.
3. Remove sponsored Speed Dials you do not use, and decline personalised ads when Opera asks.
4. Install extensions only from Opera's own add-ons store, which Opera reviews by hand. Both Guardio attacks used extensions from elsewhere.
5. Use the free VPN for public Wi-Fi, but use a full device VPN if you need other apps covered too.

How we scored it

Security (72) is Opera's best factor apart from its clean regulatory record (87): Chromium's protections, a paid bug bounty and quick fixes. Privacy (55) is the weakest, because of the advertising SDKs, data used for third-party ads on Apple's label and sharing of device IDs on Android. In 2020 the short seller Hindenburg Research accused Opera's lending apps in Kenya, Nigeria and India of predatory terms; Opera rejected the report, and it concerned those apps, not the browser, so it does not affect the score.