[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16.1″ _module_preset=”default” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_text_color=”#3c73a3″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
If you’ve ever wondered, „is a VPN worth it?” then this article is for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n In this article, among many topics, I will explain why is a VPN worth it considering<\/strong>, what are the pros and cons of using it and will present how you can choose the best VPN using 10 selection criteria for beginners<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, even if you already have a VPN service, you might still be interested in reading about „is a VPN worth it” to discover how the VPNs evolve or what alternatives to VPN services are available. In addition, the legal aspects of using VPNs might interest you.<\/p>\n You will also find an extended section of Frequently Asked Questions<\/a><\/strong> explaining almost all of the common questions that might help to answer whether is a VPN worth it.<\/p>\n Most importantly, you should check from time to time if your VPN’s jurisdiction is still in the same place<\/strong> or if the owner of the VPN service didn’t change to ensure that the privacy regulations didn’t change since you signed up for their service.<\/p>\n Although the title is „Is a VPN Worth It<\/strong>„, you can treat this content as a kind of compendium for beginners<\/strong> still wondering if a VPN will be helpful to them.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”4.16.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The online privacy rules should require Internet Service Providers (ISP) from all over the world (Comcast, Charter, Fiberglass, Play, etc.) to get your permission before selling your browsing history to advertisers. Right now, in many countries, the companies providing internet connection can track you without restrictions and sell that information without problems.<\/p>\n They use different techniques to acquire that data, even tracking your communication with a Domain Name Server (DNS). Summary of the article<\/strong>, if you don’t have time to check the complete list of topics<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n Anyone concerned about privacy, internet freedom, security, unblocking content, torrenting, or wishing to bypass censorship should sign up for a virtual private network called a VPN service.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n A VPN technology uses encryption to create a virtual tunnel that shields your browsing information inside the tunnel. Therefore, nobody between you and the VPN server can capture your data, even if you use public, unsafe hotspots that hackers could prepare to phish your information by providing crafted websites. Those websites look almost the same as the original but are used to get what you are typing in and forward it to the server, so you will not recognize that someone stole your credentials because you will be logged in without problems.<\/p>\n Definitely yes, if<\/strong> you don’t want to be a victim of cybercriminals, don’t want anybody to see what you are doing online, or you wish to geoshift your real location to avoid restrictions. Moreover, VPN is worth it to bypass censorship and have online freedom.<\/strong><\/p>\n Is a VPN worth it to call it the most powerful privacy app – not exactly.<\/strong> VPN is not a golden solution to all problems but is one of the required elements of a secure system that should defend your privacy online.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, as discussed in the article, a VPN coupled with some security settings, additional software, and proper use of the internet and network devices make it a solid system that provides many security benefits.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”list_of_topics” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”why_trust_us” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n We combine 25+ years of experience in IT, software development, and implementation of new technologies not only in the military and governmental institutions but for civilian customers as well.<\/p>\n We use our knowledge and experience to analyze articles, documents, white papers, forums, and customer reviews to create comprehensive guides, explanations, and recommendations for our readers. In addition, we prepare articles and hands-on guides regarding VPN services<\/strong>, VPN encryption protocols, transparency, trustworthiness, and security information, which are the key elements of your online protection.<\/p>\n Our main objective is to create content on how to use the best way privacy-enhancing technology in daily online activity, whether work, fun, or hobby related.<\/strong><\/p>\n Our articles explain how to use encryption tools to protect your identity and privacy while having a public presence online. Moreover, we show how to circumvent national firewalls for your freedom when you need to access some geographically restricted content from abroad.<\/p>\n While VPNs become increasingly popular, we help our readers by clarifying how they work, why use a VPN<\/a>,<\/strong> and how to choose a VPN<\/a><\/strong> based on different features and personal requirements. We also prepare articles as an answer to the most challenging questions to help not only one user but everybody who would seek the same solution.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”for_whom_this_article_is_intended” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n We intend to answer basic questions regarding VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)<\/strong> we receive from people who would like to add a layer of privacy or security to their online browsing or get access to geo-restricted content. After reading this article, you should know how to use secure VPN<\/a><\/strong> to stop your computer, smart TV, gaming console, or mobile devices from revealing your IP address to websites or services you connect to.<\/p>\n Protection of your real location is one of the reasons not to give away your IP address.<\/strong> Almost anyone could use it on various websites to find you (city, state, country). So please, open our page to check what is your IP<\/a><\/strong> and what others can see without any problems. Furthermore, tracking techniques evolve constantly, and apps can track your devices by getting your public IP address, which is quite well known on public hotspots. By the way, I don’t mean an internal IP from the LAN – local area network; it’s all about the public IP. Therefore, it’s possible to correlate your public IP address with a hotspot location and create a map of your activities with exact locations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Let’s clarify that VPNs work by routing your online traffic through an encrypted tunnel established between your device and the VPN’s server. Therefore, your complete traffic comes directly from the VPN’s IP address, not the one provided by your ISP, whether at home, office, coffee shop, airport, or hotel. Using this technique, you can hide your actual IP address from anybody who would like to record your online activity.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, your traffic has to be public at some point. Therefore, you use a VPN server and his IP address to access the public part of the Internet<\/strong>. Fortunately, the VPN server is used by multiple users. If the VPN server doesn’t log anything, it’s impossible to assign specific activity to anybody who used the VPN server at that time. It’s important to mention that this is the case only if there are no tracking signs in the log files and the VPN service provider has implemented a no-logs policy.<\/p>\n See our featured articles<\/a><\/strong> to get more information on how VPNs work and whether you should use them.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_slider posts_number=”5″ include_categories=”475″ show_meta=”off” use_bg_overlay=”off” use_text_overlay=”on” text_overlay_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0.6)” text_border_radius=”15px” _builder_version=”4.17.6″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#EDF000″ button_bg_color=”#000000″ box_shadow_style_button=”preset1″ box_shadow_spread_button=”5px” box_shadow_color_button=”#EDF000″ global_colors_info=”{}” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”on|desktop” button_bg_color__hover=”#EDF000″ button_bg_enable_color__hover=”on” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”on|hover” button_text_color__hover=”#000000″ button_border_color__hover_enabled=”on|desktop” button_border_color__hover=”#EDF000″][\/et_pb_post_slider][et_pb_text module_id=”why_trust_us” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Remember that your public IP address from ISP is recorded by the websites, online services, or even embedded in your emails. Therefore, opening an email and loading images embedded in that email can also expose your IP to someone who owns the server with images.<\/strong><\/p>\n There are different examples of how your IP can put you in trouble. For example, some court documents present a case where a well-known newspaper reporter accidentally caused a major investigation of one of the companies just by visiting its website too often. Nevertheless, it doesn’t require being a journalist to protect your identity from the sites you’re visiting.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, standard VPN services may not provide sufficient privacy in some instances.<\/strong> Therefore, this guide will provide some indicators of how to verify if a VPN provider is trustworthy.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”preliminary_steps_before_considering_a_VPN” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n The best way to decide if is a VPN worth it is to create a list of your expectations<\/strong> or requirements you have regarding the VPN service. To choose the best VPN and be satisfied with your privacy and security improvements, you should address all areas of vulnerability before signing up for a VPN. With that list, you can check if there is a VPN that provides everything you are looking for. You might also want to check our VPN Reviews<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n List of steps to secure yourself before getting the VPN:<\/p>\n Although the above tools and tweaks can minimize your digital footprint, they have some limitations. VPN combined with proper configuration might be an excellent solution to cover most, if not all, of the privacy and global freedom topics.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”is_a_VPN_worth_it_for_changing_your_location_geoshifting” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Besides privacy, one of the main reasons people tend to use VPNs is to change their geographical location (Geolocation<\/strong>). It’s useful when you want to access videos or other content available only to users from, for example, the United States. So, if you are in Spain, Germany, or Poland and want to watch content from US Netflix, you must use VPN to bypass the restrictions<\/strong>. Therefore, it’s essential to choose a VPN that provides many servers from various locations to avoid crowded servers and connect to the one that is not blocked by streaming services.<\/p>\n It’s important to mention that not all servers might unlock Netflix or any other streaming service. Therefore, a VPN with many servers in different locations is a good option because it allows you to instantly switch between the servers to find the proper one.<\/p>\n To change your location<\/strong>, simply use the native app from a chosen VPN service provider and pick a server in a country and city you want to use as your source IP address. Then press connect button, and that’s it; you should be connected to the desired server. Finally, you can check your IP<\/a><\/strong> to confirm how you are recognized publicly.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”why_would_you_try_to_bypass_geoblocking” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Geo-blocking is a type of discrimination assigned to a specific region or country.<\/strong> It can make you feel discriminated, especially when you have paid for a service or would like to get one but what you get is only a blank page stating: 'This content is unavailable in your location.’<\/p>\n In Europe situation is changing because the European Commission considers geo-blocking as a form of discrimination<\/a><\/strong>. Nevertheless, these types of restrictions are very common around the globe, and many streaming services block some content, e.g., YouTube TV, Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Spotify, etc.<\/p>\n The most problematic situation is when you travel and can’t use your streaming account to watch your favorite series because of geographical restrictions.<\/p>\n Moreover, this blocking activity in the business world can prevent access to consumer reviews and feedback or even generate problems with an ad verification process.<\/p>\n Therefore, VPN is worth it to be used to bypass these restrictions.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”can_you_trust_a_vpn” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Your total traffic goes through the VPN server when you use a VPN connection. Therefore, VPN service providers see everything you are hoping to protect, which is why trustworthiness is the most important quality factor of a good VPN. The second factor is security. Unfortunately, these are not easy to ascertain.<\/p>\n Independent companies conduct security audits of VPN networks to confirm their no-logs policy, level of security, and privacy claims. Most of the audit results are available publicly.<\/p>\n As you can see, while all your internet activity will pass the VPN server, you need to trust that company more than you trust the network, whether you use free WiFi at the airport, hotel, corporate, or your ISP at home.<\/p>\n There are known cases where people who traveled and used unsecured free hotspots were attacked by malware that rerouted their traffic through ad networks, injected supercookies to track them online, etc. It’s possible that some services might be using fake HTTPS certificates and capturing your credentials or other private data, pretending you use secure HTTPS protocol.<\/strong> It’s also proven that some cybercriminals used counterfeit hotspots in coffee shops<\/strong> to provide phishing websites to those who connected through their router and acquired logins with passwords to different websites and services.<\/p>\n Past events confirm that our freedom as internet users is under threat.<\/strong> For example, various ISPs have long collected customer data, especially traffic, and visited websites to present targeted advertisements. Moreover, broadband service providers are not open about how they use your data, which poses a significant threat to your online privacy. This is also the case due to the fact that many options for opting out of privacy in relation to the information collected by default and made available to third parties are included in the contracts. Still, the confusing content of the contracts means that customers do not even read them. Therefore, an alternative solution is to use a VPN to hide your activity from nosy internet providers, advertising networks, and even cybercriminals. (FTC released the results of an investigation<\/a><\/strong> – A Look at What ISPs Know About You).<\/p>\n Therefore, there are reasons to trust some VPN providers over ISPs and use all possible techniques to defend our privacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n Nevertheless, some VPNs were caught lying regarding the privacy rules and how they handle users’ data. Those untrustworthy VPNs were sharing data with third parties to increase revenues, and some even had poor configurations leading to data leaks. A serious problem with VPNs lies in promising privacy and security because evaluating those promises is complicated.<\/p>\n A study conducted in 2016<\/strong> found plenty of VPNs embedding third-party tracking codes, allowing access to sensitive Android permissions, having encryption and traffic leaks, or even being infected with malware. You can check the study (PDF)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to learn more about this problem. The study reveals that among 500K installs, 25% received at least 4 stars while containing some malware.<\/strong> It proves that users without sufficient knowledge and experience recommend to each other software that is insecure and will impact their security. When some user of a forum or social networking site with no experience in security or software development claims that a VPN is good just because he uses it and everything works, he creates a huge problem.<\/strong><\/span> This is the worst support or suggestion someone can get. The problem is even more significant if the new user also starts repeating the same mistake by recommending software he doesn’t know or even understand.<\/p>\n Users often complain that their VPN doesn’t work or even blocks their internet connection. Unfortunately, in most cases, the problem is caused by the user who doesn’t understand the software or its configuration. The most surprising is that he never even tried to fix it by contacting support and only wrote a negative comment which basically is about himself. Don’t get me wrong; there are also supportive users who find a solution and later try to help others with the same problem, but it’s not so common these days.<\/p>\n Let’s focus on VPNs that revealed information to governments or security agencies. Sometimes, a VPN service provider’s past mistakes can positively affect his future. After recognizing a problem with regulations, some VPNs have even moved their headquarters to a region where regulations do not allow logs to be kept and governments do not enforce information sharing. There are fewer and fewer such companies and places where it is possible not to collect data about VPN users because governments impose the obligation to collect and store data on online activity, like in India<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Moreover, companies are changing their owners, which can negatively impact your privacy and online safety. Such a change of ownership may cause the rules for existing users to change, and suddenly our web traffic data will be collected and transferred to third parties or government agencies. That is why controlling the history of VPN is worth it, as not all changes are positive.<\/strong><\/p>\n Another problematic area of a VPN evaluation is the published security audits conducted by reputable third parties. Those audits have become more common among VPNs, but those audits aren’t perfect. Independent auditors evaluate as much as possible but are limited in their efforts. Moreover, there is no assurance that the result of the audit presents the actual status of the network and implemented technology because the software and configuration can be changed easily within even one day. Therefore, always-on audit and no-log companies present one of the highest levels of trust because they can expect audits anytime.<\/strong><\/p>\n To highlight some key issues that auditors report: However, a will to conduct those audits and publicize the results is a good step in trust. As I mentioned already, the best approach that some VPNs present is to have a no-logs policy always on audit, which means that the audits are unannounced and can be conducted whenever an independent auditor decides to do it. This is a significant advantage of those VPNs.<\/p>\n As you can see, privacy and security are pretty challenging problems. At the same time, costly audits, not even mentioning the infrastructure, software, and configuration maintenance costs, require payments for VPN services. Therefore, if you try to save on privacy and security using potentially free services, you might even worsen the situation by being tracked or infected by malware.<\/strong><\/p>\n To make it even more complicated, some VPNs are located in „offshore” areas for the benefit of not being part of so-called Fourteen Eyes countries<\/strong> (14 countries, including the US). Those alliances actively share intelligence data gathered about the users. Unfortunately, the same lack of regulations can have a negative impact on privacy and security because it leaves users unprotected against fraudulent activities. [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”vpn_limitations” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n VPN will not protect you from your own mistakes. <\/strong>VPNs are not a gold solution for everything, and you should know that VPN providers can see your traffic, and in some cases, third parties can trace your identity regardless you use a VPN or not.<\/p>\n That risk is not related to VPN or its flaws. Let’s look at a scenario where you log in to your Google account without a VPN from your home. So you already revealed your IP provided by ISP, which was assigned to your profile. Next, if you use a VPN and login into your account, google can now see both IPs, the previously used home IP address and the new from VPN. That’s how you can be tracked by making simple mistakes.<\/strong><\/p>\n Moreover, VPNs can’t protect you against the browser’s cookies and fingerprinting techniques that can be used to track you even if you don’t log in. So at some point, if you don’t clean your browser and system, you will log in somewhere, and that activity can be traced back to you.<\/p>\n You can test how the websites assign your activity by reading the New York Times<\/strong> (https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/<\/a><\/strong>). You are allowed to read only one article. After opening any second article, you will see a window blocking the content with the statement: „Thanks for reading The Times. Create your free account or log in to continue reading.”<\/strong><\/p>\n By using VPN and adequately cleaning the browser tracking cookies, you can continue reading the articles for free. Still, if you don’t clean the cookies, even VPN will not unblock the content because the blocking information was already saved in your cache on your device.<\/p>\n Remember, VPNs are only partially a solution and require knowledge of how to use them in combination with other security and privacy techniques.<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s also important to mention that the US government, in the case of criminal activity, has mutual legal assistance treaties with many countries. Therefore, VPN also requires additional software or techniques to protect you, which might not be easy. Nonetheless, criminal activity shouldn’t be protected anyways.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_id=”are_vpns_legal” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_line_height=”1em” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n VPNs in the United States and most Western democracies are perfectly legal to use, but it doesn’t mean you are allowed to conduct illegal activities with a VPN. Even though a VPN protects your privacy, you should expect pursuit for unlawful purchases, theft, or any other crime according to the law of your country. VPNs are illegal in countries that don’t respect civil rights and free speech and are ruled by authoritarian governments. So, is a VPN worth it to be used in those countries? I think yes. Therefore, regardless VPN ban, citizens of such regimes will always try to use VPNs to avoid restrictions and monitoring of online activities.<\/p>\n Completely illegal<\/strong> \u2013 Belarus, Iraq, North Korea, and Turkmenistan ban VPNs, and you will be punished if they catch you using them.<\/p>\n Legal, but must be registered<\/strong> \u2013 Oman and Russia. You can use a VPN service, but the government must approve it. It’s important to know that the government regularly forces VPN companies in those countries to give up confidential data and logs. Therefore, many VPNs have moved their servers out of Russia for fear of being seized. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further worsened the situation.<\/p>\n Legal, but controlled<\/strong> \u2013 India’s new data law (effective September 25, 2022 – postponed from June 27, 2022) requires VPN companies to store information like IP addresses. Instead of banning VPNs, India wants to control their use, making it impossible for VPNs to provide privacy as intended. Therefore, VPN companies like Surfshark<\/a><\/strong>, Proton VPN, NordVPN<\/a><\/strong>, as well as ExpressVPN<\/a><\/strong>, Atlas VPN, and
Additionally, with your direct connection to the free public hotspot, you risk being connected to a fake one used for phishing your sensitive data.<\/p>\n\n
Is a VPN worth it?<\/h2>\n
List of topics<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
Why you should trust us<\/h2>\n
For whom this article is intended<\/h2>\n
Preliminary steps before considering a VPN<\/h2>\n
Our list (How to choose a VPN – 10 selection criteria for beginners<\/strong><\/a>) will help you determine if the VPN will solve your problems or if you might need a better tool or method.<\/p>\n\n
You also have an option to specify which DoH provider to use because secure DNS may not always be available with your current ISP DNS service provider. To change it, use the next option called \u201cWith\u201d and choose from the drop-down box, or enter an IP address in the \u201cEnter custom provider\u201d text box.<\/li>\nIs a VPN worth it for changing your location – Geoshifting?<\/h2>\n
Why would you try to bypass Geo-blocking?<\/h2>\n
Can you trust a VPN<\/h2>\n
– they are not familiar with a company,
– they don’t check code line by line,
– they are, in many cases, limited in time that is dedicated to the audit activities,
– they don’t know the technology used and have a short time to familiarize themselves.<\/p>\n
Therefore, FTC protections can be beneficial if the service deceives its customers. So, you need to assess if that type of protection is sufficient to risk your data being shared among allied countries.<\/p>\nVPN Limitations<\/h2>\n
Are VPNs legal?<\/h2>\n
Nevertheless, VPN use is illegal or at least restricted in some countries.<\/p>\nWhere is it illegal to use a VPN?<\/h2>\n