Are Free VPN Apps Worth the Risk? Experts Say ‘No’
Free is never free. They have to pay for their work somehow and that most certainly will mean ads and ads track. I pay for Private Internet Access which has a great Android and iOS app. There are other great VPN providers out there but they are all gonna charge. Stay safe.
Okay so, I live in a country where all the main porn websites, 4chan and imgur and for some reason partially the i.reddit image hosting is blocked, I don’t do my banking nor anything else confidential on a free vpn. Please enlighten me on how free vpns are not worth the risk in my scenario
This applies to Google too.
Beginning and end of the article pretty much sums up what you need to know.
A recent study by U.S. and Australian researchers found that many Android VPN apps were potentially malicious, let third parties spy on “secure” transmissions, tracked users or just plain didn’t work.
“But never forget that, in the end, you get what you pay for.”
Nothing is really free, so you’ve got to question what the company operating the VPN is getting out of it.
Shouldn’t open source VPNs be safe?
Do I use adguard which to my knowledge uses a VPN. Should i be concerned at all?
How about the one from Facebook, Onavo?
I mean other than probably the usual sniffing of browser habits for ads, is it safer?
I’ve been using Mullvad for a couple of months. Extremely happy with the price, speeds and server selection. Highly recommended.
That includes investigating the origin of the VPN app — you probably want to skip any from China, Russia or other countries with a dubious security history
Yea, funny there’s one country that’s not mentioned, one that I’m far less likely to trust, a country with a VERY DUBIOUS security history, more than the rest of the world combined most likely.
They are to me. I dont need to pay just to hide my ip. And paid vpns can do the exact same stuff, except theyre getting even more money out of you.
Just saw this. Very helpful thanks for the contribution.
The only situation where, in my case, I would say it is worth using a VPN is when at public wi fi networks. Is there any free and decent alternative in my case?
Free Vpns are worth it at my school, where student user cannot install applications, the passwords on accounts with this privilege are changed by people who previously found the admin password, and since you get computers randomly whenever we use them chrome plugins are much better. And no reason to pay as you are switching computers and takes time.
There is a VPN plugin on every computer pretty much.
So I use Orbot for everything.
Bad Idea?
personally I’d trust Opera Max, they always made good software. Exception being they put banner ads in their web browser at a critical moment in the browser wars and never got a decent foothold in the west.
The bad news? Many of these VPN apps could actually be sabotaging your security and privacy. A recent study by U.S. and Australian researchers found that many Android VPN apps were potentially malicious, let third parties spy on “secure” transmissions, tracked users or just plain didn’t work.
That’s how it’ll affect you. Even worse since you do pretty much all your browsing on it.
Go to /r/VPN and check out the VPN guide by ThatOnePrivacyGuy. Lists all the paid VPNs by Pro’s and cons.
What country do you live in if you don’t mind me asking? all those things being blocked would suck so much lol
It pretty much comes down to how much you value your privacy. Some want to be as secure as possible and prefer not to be tracked online for certain reasons. For them, it doesn’t matter if they’re simply browsing, torrenting, or doing confidential stuff. Others, like yourself, prefer the convenience VPNs offer by being able to access certain sites blocked by some countries. In that situation, you’re not really concerned about privacy.
However, keep in mind that the following is mentioned in the article:
But a shady or poorly configured service could compromise your traffic, either by design or by accident, or could even piggyback on your encrypted connection for nefarious purposes.
“Your data could be intercepted or decrypted,” said Mat Gangwer, chief technology officer with Rook Security in Indianapolis. “Bad guys could be using your connection for shady activities or to cover their tracks.”
You may not be doing confidential things, like online banking, but a compromised VPN could still have a negative impact. It won’t always happen, but the possibility is there.