VPN, which stands for Virtual Private Network, is a tool that encrypts your internet traffic and hides your IP address and virtual location. It can significantly boost your online privacy and security, whether connecting to a public Wi-Fi, working remotely, or streaming.
Even though most popular VPN services offer monthly or yearly subscriptions, the VPN market is also beaming with free VPNs. The question is, if they are free, are they any good, and will they adequately protect your valuable data?
Stick around because we will tell you everything you need to know about the safety of free VPNs and explain a few helpful points before getting one.
1) You are always paying somehow
Seeing how many free VPS are being advertised all over the internet, many users believe that free VPNs are just as good as paid ones. Many free VPNs even market themselves as offering all the same features as their premium competitors.
However, as we all know, everything you are promised to get for free sounds too good to be true, and you are always paying one way or another, whether through the data you are giving away or watching ads.
2) Do not believe everything they promise
When it comes to security, as you would imagine, it is pretty one-sided. While many free VPNs provide basic encryption, some do not include encryption at all, despite stating otherwise.
Premium VPNs tend to offer advanced, military-grade encryption. Moreover, most premium VPNS have extra security features like Kill switches and DNS leak protection, which are not commonly provided by free VPNs.
3) Maintaining an international server network costs a lot
When it comes to performance, it costs a lot to run and maintain an international server network, so it is pretty easy to imagine what free VPN performance is like without even checking.
Instead of the standard hundreds to thousands of physical servers spread worldwide, free VPNs tend to be light on infrastructure because they do not have the funds to invest in a substantial number of high-quality servers.
Never mind that free VPNs lack the resources of their own to own the actual servers, meaning that third parties will have full access to the data passing through the server.
4) So, are free VPNs safe
The worst thing about free VPNs is their privacy policies. While standard VPNs promise not to store any of your data, free VPNs are entirely another story.
If a VPN does not seem to make any money from you directly, chances are they keep logs and sell your personal data to advertisers for a profit. To put it siThe answer is probably not to, and to answer whether free VPNs are safe, the answerlack the commitment and funds to provide decent security.
Conclusion
Just like with all things offered to us, if a service sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The same goes with free VPNs, which, although you are not paying for it with money, give away something even more valuable – your information and privacy.
Whether we are using a VPN for work or entertainment, privacy should be our foremost priority when spending time on the internet, which is why a free VPN might not be the right decision.
