Many will assure you that your browsing history and data is safe with them without really making you to understand how they intend gaining from you.
You know? Every business has one major aim; to make profit. These developers spend huge money on maintaining the hardware and expertise needed for large networks of users.
If you’re thinking of installing a free VPN (or probably using one), maybe you should take a pause and read this article first. After going through the article, you might probably see it worth doing, or make a u-turn today.
Here are some of the biggest risks with using a free VPN service:
• They sell your data
One of the biggest selling points of most VPNs is that they protect you from data trackers selling your data for profit. Wow, this is great to hear, but not when the so called 'bodyguards' are now the ones selling the data.When they tell you that they're stopping ISPs and other data trackers, it's quite true, they do that by encrypting your data and routing it through the VPN servers. This means that your ISP will be restricted from seeing your browsing information, but you might have just succeeded in swapping from one tracker to another.
As I earlier said, these companies have huge bills to pay, so they can easily work with third-party ad networks by providing them with their users' data in exchange for money.
• Free VPNs simply aren't as safe
Using a free VPN is simply not safe, apart from the companies selling, your passwords might also be at risk. With so many password-stealing malware on the internet, many internet users are looking for ways to protect their information online.
According to a report by The Global Web Index, over 25% of internet users accessed a VPN in the past month. There are over 3.4 billion internet users in the world, you might have to do the calculation yourself to figure out the number of people using free VPNs worldwide.
According to statista.com, the VPN global market value's growth is projected to hit $35 billion in revenues by 2022. With this, you'd trust me that finding the best VPNs in the market isn't such an easy task. But in your quest to find one, always to remember to avoid the FREE ones.
• Lack of Regulation
I earlier told you that ISPs track and (probably) sell your browsing data, but don't forget that in continents like Europe and North America, ISPs are tightly regulated. That they sell your data is true, but the government maps out the rules for such transactions, making it transparent and accessible to users.
But in the VPN world, the mode of operation is entirely different. Anybody can create a VPN app, push into the app store and start getting users to download them for free. The fact that many providers of VPNs operate in shady offshore jurisdictions is also worth knowing. So the next time you think of downloading a VPN, also create out time to search out the provenance, and how strict they are about sharing users' data.
Also check out our article on 7 banned apps that you need to delete from your Android phone right now if you value your privacy.
• What of the annoying ads?
We once partnered with a pop-up ad network on a flat rate worth over 6 figures, but after using the ads, we noticed that it wasn't really the best for our users. After communicating with our team, we had to remove it. You know, using pop-up ads might be bringing a lot of money to us, but will also be scaring our users away from our site.
Inasmuch as we started using the ads in order to continue making the quality of information available to you as good as possible, making you click on links that you don't want to or download stuff that would harm you is unethical to us.
In the world of VPNs, you'd see them using aggressive advertising practices that might go beyond getting hit with a few annoying pop-ups and quickly veer into dangerous territory. Some can even lead you to an adult site or something of that nature. Some VPNs also sneak ad-serving trackers through the loopholes in your browser's media-reading features, which will continue tracking you even if you uninstall it.
• IP Address Leaks
This is another very important reason you should avoid free VPNs. A VPN is like a a secret tunnel in which all your traffic flow without any third-party getting to know what you browse. When your requests emerge in the open web, figuring out the origin of the data is close to impossible.
In a free VPN, there is a greater possibility of the craftsmanship of the tunnel being robust, hence your IP address and even data can be leaked, and probably picked by any concerned fellow. To find out more on this, kindly check out our article on how to protect your IP in initial phase.
Inasmuch as experts claim that paid VPNs can also be guilty of traffic leaks, the number of reports are less common. You can compare it to paying more to a builder for a more quality job.
What more?
Free VPNs are not as safe as they appear, at least the 5 points above must have enlightened you a little bit more. If you plan on ditching your free VPN, you can make two options;- Go premium by signing up with a trusted VPN provider
- Use TOR Network. This also comes with its own set of concerns, but are definitely far less worrisome than those arising from free VPNs.
Before you leave, don't forget to drop us a comment and share with your friends. Also check out our previous article on how blockchain could improve data security.
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