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My bank used to block VPNs “for security reasons.”

Now they very kindly just display a warning.

Gas station app I use asks to turn VPN off every launch (even when it is disabled)

Why does a gas station need an app?

Bonus/loyalty programm

More likely getting data on your usage in some part, or most likely, pushing notifications reminding you about the particular brand, so you'll keep spending the money there.

Then the app gets no notification permissions.

Also why does a gas station app need to send notifications? :)

To tell you the gas prices are low?

(Don't know for sure, wouldn't use one myself.)

More likely to tell you to come in and buy a half price slushie, and hopefully grab a bag of chips too. Which is probably where they make their real profit.

Yes, that's what a "bonus/loyalty program" is.

It’s likely incompetence than malice. Chances are they’ve had a lot of customer complaints because some popular free VPN interferes with their app, and adding a blanket warning about VPNs is easier than trying to figure out why it’s not working and fix it.

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