Consent and opting out
Understand what sharing consent covers, when it happens, what to check about your network and how to withdraw from the exchange.
Website: https://zenshield.com/help/bandwidth-consent
Canonical URL: https://zenshield.com/help/bandwidth-consent
Page reviewed: 2026-09-09
Zenshield is free through an idle-bandwidth exchange. You choose whether to participate, and explicit consent happens inside the app before sharing starts. Participation is required to use the free VPN, so declining the exchange means choosing not to use that offer.
What you are deciding
The shared bandwidth supports Geonode’s proxy network. Consider both the app you want to use and the connection you are contributing. Our VPN and proxy guide explains why these are different roles.
Before agreeing, read the sharing policy and ask yourself:
- Is this my connection, or do I have permission from the person or organization managing it?
- Does my internet or mobile plan charge for the data I might use?
- Am I comfortable with the participation described in the policy?
- Do I understand how to stop on the version I am installing?
If an answer is unclear, ask support before consenting. There is no requirement to decide just because you have downloaded the installer.
Downloading is not consent
Getting the file from this website is the first step toward installing the app. The sharing choice is presented during onboarding. We do not treat a website download click as consent to start sharing.
Read each app prompt and decide whether the exchange fits. Do not assume that a general account signup and a sharing choice mean the same thing. If the wording in your installed version is unclear, send support the prompt’s text and your platform, without private account information.
Plan for the connection you will use
Your home connection, a work network and a roaming-data plan can have different rules and costs. Permission to browse on a network does not automatically answer whether bandwidth-sharing participation is allowed there.
The free VPN price does not pay your provider’s charges. For example, if you move from home Wi-Fi to mobile data, reconsider the exchange for the active connection instead of assuming the previous situation still applies.
You can stop participating
You can opt out at any time. The stop-sharing guide explains the options described in the policy: fully closing the app, uninstalling, or using a sharing setting where the version provides one. Minimizing a window may leave the app running.
Do not assume free VPN access continues after you withdraw from the required exchange. If you want an offer without bandwidth sharing, compare other free-VPN funding models.
Ask a specific question
A useful support message might be: “I use Android on a metered mobile plan. Where can I find the participation controls for my version before I decide?” Another might ask about using the app on a connection managed by someone else.
Use contact to clarify the app’s behavior. Questions about permission on a workplace, school or hotel network should also go to its owner.