1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,700 If you've used a virtual private network, or VPN, 2 00:00:03,700 --> 00:00:09,300 it's probably been for one of two reasons. One, trying to stick it to those greedy corporations 3 00:00:09,300 --> 00:00:12,600 by getting around a geo-filter so you can watch streaming content, 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:17,300 or two, to protect your own freaking privacy. 5 00:00:17,300 --> 00:00:21,100 Ah, today, today we're going to be talking 6 00:00:21,100 --> 00:00:24,700 about that second use case, and how many VPNs have come under fire 7 00:00:24,700 --> 00:00:28,100 for not keeping customers browsing habits private enough. 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,500 So, can you actually trust your VPN service? 9 00:00:32,500 --> 00:00:36,600 It helps to first know how a VPN works, at least in theory. 10 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:41,000 The idea is that you connect to a VPN which then connects you to the wider internet. 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,800 Your ISP cannot see which sites or services you're visiting or using, 12 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,900 except for the fact that you're using a certain VPN. 13 00:00:47,900 --> 00:00:51,000 Now, many VPNs claim to protect user privacy 14 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,200 by promising not to keep logs of user activity. 15 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:58,800 However, some amount of logging is necessary for them to even operate at all, 16 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:04,600 as the services have to keep tabs on IP addresses in order to know where data should be sent to and from. 17 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:10,400 The real question is whether these VPNs log no more information than is absolutely necessary, 18 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,700 and whether they purge their logs as soon as data transfers are complete. 19 00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:18,400 Similarly to your ISP, a VPN could, in theory, 20 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,400 view everything you're seeing that isn't encrypted. 21 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,000 That includes not only sites you visited, but information about your device, 22 00:01:25,100 --> 00:01:28,200 and even the contents of your unencrypted messages, 23 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:33,200 no matter how lewd they are. And even if you turn on your VPN's encryption feature, 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,000 that doesn't stop the VPN service from logging which sites you're viewing. 25 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:41,100 So we find ourselves in a situation of either being forced to trust our ISP 26 00:01:41,100 --> 00:01:45,300 or being forced to trust a VPN. So how do we know which one to trust? 27 00:01:45,300 --> 00:01:49,000 Well, there's gonna be an element of taking claims on faith no matter what you do. 28 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,300 It's kind of the same way you trust that when you get on a commercial flight, 29 00:01:52,300 --> 00:01:56,600 there wasn't a drunken, competent mechanic who was working on patching up the wings an hour ago. 30 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,700 But you can still minimize the risk of your data being exposed 31 00:01:59,700 --> 00:02:03,600 by doing some homework on VPN providers. First of all, it's a good idea 32 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:08,700 to shy away from free VPNs. And no, even though we've featured paid services 33 00:02:08,700 --> 00:02:13,100 as sponsors on this channel before, no one's paying us to say this. 34 00:02:13,100 --> 00:02:17,200 You see, many free VPNs are ad-supported, and while these might be okay 35 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:22,100 if you're just trying to get around a geo-filter, it's hard to trust them to keep your data private. 36 00:02:22,100 --> 00:02:27,000 Providing a VPN for users costs money, and many free VPNs aren't above selling 37 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,900 your browsing data to third parties in order to serve relevant ads, 38 00:02:30,900 --> 00:02:34,000 which are more profitable than untargeted ads. 39 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,300 In fact, there was a big scandal in 2020 40 00:02:37,300 --> 00:02:41,500 where several free VPNs who claimed not to log user activity, 41 00:02:41,500 --> 00:02:45,300 Shocker, had over a whole terabyte of activity logs 42 00:02:45,300 --> 00:02:49,000 leaked out onto the open internet. Yikes. 43 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,300 And if you go back a few more years, another popular free VPN called Hola 44 00:02:53,300 --> 00:02:57,600 actually sold their users bandwidth, meaning that many people were unknowingly 45 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,800 having their computers used as part of a malware botnet. 46 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,400 Bottom line, it just isn't worth saving a few bucks. 47 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:10,900 Now, even though you want to avoid free VPNs, paying for one doesn't get you completely out of the woods. 48 00:03:10,900 --> 00:03:15,100 Before plunking down your hard-earned cash, carefully read the VPN's policies 49 00:03:15,100 --> 00:03:21,400 and see if there are any third-party audits available. Many reputable paid VPNs hire outside auditing firms 50 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:26,000 to come in and evaluate their privacy practices. And it's better if these audit results 51 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:31,400 are published by the firm itself not by the VPN's marketing and PR team. 52 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:34,400 They've got a bit of a vested interest there. Another smart thing to do 53 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,900 is see if a VPN service you're interested in has been forced by government authorities 54 00:03:38,900 --> 00:03:43,800 to cough up logs of user activity. There have been instances of paid services 55 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:48,200 that claim they don't log activity, turning over enough information to authorities 56 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,000 to have their users arrested. And while we obviously don't at all condone 57 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,200 using a VPN to commit crimes, 58 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,900 please don't. It can be useful to know if law enforcement, 59 00:03:58,900 --> 00:04:03,200 the one group that can often compel a VPN to turn over user logs if it has any, 60 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,200 couldn't get their hands on those logs because they didn't even exist in the first place. 61 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,500 Speaking of law enforcement, also check and see if the country that the VPN is based in 62 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:15,800 has mandatory data retention laws. Depending on exactly where in the world 63 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,900 your VPN is located, they may have no choice but to track your activity. 64 00:04:19,900 --> 00:04:23,900 So be sure to understand the legal situation before you start browsing. 65 00:04:23,900 --> 00:04:27,900 For example, France and Australia are known to have mandatory logging 66 00:04:27,900 --> 00:04:32,000 while Panama and Romania do not, at least for the time being. 67 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,000 I think the moon is also pretty libertarian. 68 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,900 And finally, remember that just because something says VPN on it, 69 00:04:38,900 --> 00:04:43,600 that doesn't mean it's designed to enhance your privacy. There was a big scandal in 2019 70 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,200 after Facebook was convincing users many of them teenagers 71 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:51,900 to install a VPN on their phone that tracks their activity in return for small amounts of money. 72 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,200 I want some cash to buy bubblegum at the quarter store. 73 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,700 So be very careful about whom you trust, just like you do offline. 74 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:03,900 I mean, you wouldn't buy stuff from every salesperson that comes to your door, would you? 75 00:05:03,900 --> 00:05:08,400 That was me one time. And then I just ran out of room for all the vacuum cleaners. 76 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:12,900 Oh my gosh, that was a Techquickie. Thanks for watching the whole thing, guys. Like the video, dislike the video, 77 00:05:12,900 --> 00:05:16,500 whatever your heart leads you to do. Check out our other videos 78 00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:20,500 and comment below with video suggestions. Tell us what to make videos about 79 00:05:20,500 --> 00:05:23,300 and don't forget to subscribe and follow. Hey, you want a vacuum?