If you've used a virtual private network, or VPN,
it's probably been for one of two reasons. One, trying to stick it to those greedy corporations
by getting around a geo-filter so you can watch streaming content,
or two, to protect your own freaking privacy.
Ah, today, today we're going to be talking
about that second use case, and how many VPNs have come under fire
for not keeping customers browsing habits private enough.
So, can you actually trust your VPN service?
It helps to first know how a VPN works, at least in theory.
The idea is that you connect to a VPN which then connects you to the wider internet.
Your ISP cannot see which sites or services you're visiting or using,
except for the fact that you're using a certain VPN.
Now, many VPNs claim to protect user privacy
by promising not to keep logs of user activity.
However, some amount of logging is necessary for them to even operate at all,
as the services have to keep tabs on IP addresses in order to know where data should be sent to and from.
The real question is whether these VPNs log no more information than is absolutely necessary,
and whether they purge their logs as soon as data transfers are complete.
Similarly to your ISP, a VPN could, in theory,
view everything you're seeing that isn't encrypted.
That includes not only sites you visited, but information about your device,
and even the contents of your unencrypted messages,
no matter how lewd they are. And even if you turn on your VPN's encryption feature,
that doesn't stop the VPN service from logging which sites you're viewing.
So we find ourselves in a situation of either being forced to trust our ISP
or being forced to trust a VPN. So how do we know which one to trust?
Well, there's gonna be an element of taking claims on faith no matter what you do.
It's kind of the same way you trust that when you get on a commercial flight,
there wasn't a drunken, competent mechanic who was working on patching up the wings an hour ago.
But you can still minimize the risk of your data being exposed
by doing some homework on VPN providers. First of all, it's a good idea
to shy away from free VPNs. And no, even though we've featured paid services
as sponsors on this channel before, no one's paying us to say this.
You see, many free VPNs are ad-supported, and while these might be okay
if you're just trying to get around a geo-filter, it's hard to trust them to keep your data private.
Providing a VPN for users costs money, and many free VPNs aren't above selling
your browsing data to third parties in order to serve relevant ads,
which are more profitable than untargeted ads.
In fact, there was a big scandal in 2020
where several free VPNs who claimed not to log user activity,
Shocker, had over a whole terabyte of activity logs
leaked out onto the open internet. Yikes.
And if you go back a few more years, another popular free VPN called Hola
actually sold their users bandwidth, meaning that many people were unknowingly
having their computers used as part of a malware botnet.
Bottom line, it just isn't worth saving a few bucks.
Now, even though you want to avoid free VPNs, paying for one doesn't get you completely out of the woods.
Before plunking down your hard-earned cash, carefully read the VPN's policies
and see if there are any third-party audits available. Many reputable paid VPNs hire outside auditing firms
to come in and evaluate their privacy practices. And it's better if these audit results
are published by the firm itself not by the VPN's marketing and PR team.
They've got a bit of a vested interest there. Another smart thing to do
is see if a VPN service you're interested in has been forced by government authorities
to cough up logs of user activity. There have been instances of paid services
that claim they don't log activity, turning over enough information to authorities
to have their users arrested. And while we obviously don't at all condone
using a VPN to commit crimes,
please don't. It can be useful to know if law enforcement,
the one group that can often compel a VPN to turn over user logs if it has any,
couldn't get their hands on those logs because they didn't even exist in the first place.
Speaking of law enforcement, also check and see if the country that the VPN is based in
has mandatory data retention laws. Depending on exactly where in the world
your VPN is located, they may have no choice but to track your activity.
So be sure to understand the legal situation before you start browsing.
For example, France and Australia are known to have mandatory logging
while Panama and Romania do not, at least for the time being.
I think the moon is also pretty libertarian.
And finally, remember that just because something says VPN on it,
that doesn't mean it's designed to enhance your privacy. There was a big scandal in 2019
after Facebook was convincing users many of them teenagers
to install a VPN on their phone that tracks their activity in return for small amounts of money.
I want some cash to buy bubblegum at the quarter store.
So be very careful about whom you trust, just like you do offline.
I mean, you wouldn't buy stuff from every salesperson that comes to your door, would you?
That was me one time. And then I just ran out of room for all the vacuum cleaners.
Oh my gosh, that was a Techquickie. Thanks for watching the whole thing, guys. Like the video, dislike the video,
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