Feature
I highlight six of the most common myths about VPNs and cut through the misinformation to deliver you the truth.
Image: Pexels: Dan Nelson
It’s relatively easy to sign up to a virtual private network, or VPN. More and more people are taking the plunge to secure their identity online — but their motivations vary and there’s a lot of confusion about what VPNs can actually do. Here I highlight six of the most common myths about VPNs to cut through the misinformation and deliver you the truth.
Table of Contents
1. VPNs are only for illegal activity
This is a very popular myth that I often come across. While it’s true that VPNs can be used for illegal activities like hacking and torrenting, that’s not what they were intended for. Protecting your privacy is the main intention and a VPN can do that by masking your IP address and encrypting your internet traffic.
With a VPN in place you can go ahead and do the things you need to do online without your ISP, the sites you visit, and the government keeping tabs on your activities. That’s crucial in countries where digital censorship is rife and personal freedoms are limited. But even in countries that have a high level of personal freedom, VPNs provide a safer way to enjoy those freedoms with more anonymity.
2. VPNs are only for unblocking streaming sites
Streaming is a big selling point of VPNs that you’ll often hear touted even more than the privacy features. And it’s true that VPNs are extremely useful for that. For instance, you might want to use one to skirt around geofences and watch Netflix overseas or else access the BBC iPlayer or Hulu. However, it’s not the only way you can use a VPN. You might also use one to do any of the following:
- Access your banking app when you’re overseas.
- Stay secure when on public Wi-Fi and prevent hackers intercepting your data.
- Spoof your location to check out sales in different regions of the world.
3. VPNs lead to unstable internet connections
VPNs work to encrypt your data by sending it through servers before it reaches its destination. For that reason, you will experience a slight slowdown in your internet connection as it takes extra time to encrypt your data, but it won’t cause an unstable internet connection.
If you’re paying for a fast VPN plan in your own region, chances are you won’t even notice the slowdown, it’ll be so minor it’ll be undetectable. In some cases, using a VPN could actually speed up your internet connection, like if your ISP is throttling your connection because you’re streaming, gaming, or torrenting. So, take these claims with a grain of salt. See also PCWorld’s recommendations for the fastest VPNs.
4. You don’t need to pay for a VPN
Unfortunately, the saying “You get what you pay for” applies to virtual private networks too. It’s true that some free VPNs aren’t as trustworthy as paid services and will leak your information to third parties to make money. Others just can’t compete with the speeds of fully paid services, and then some will bombard you with ads to make up for the lack of payment of their services.
If you don’t want to compromise on quality and speed you should really choose a quality paid option like the ones we review and recommend at PCWorld. You’ll notice a world of difference after a while.
Pexels: Dan Nelson
5. VPNs make you completely anonymous online
VPNs aren’t completely foolproof and while they can improve your digital security, they can’t guarantee complete anonymity.
Even if you’re assigned a new IP address every time you connect to the internet, some websites you visit will still know where you’re located. Furthermore, via social media trackers, cookies, and ads they can build up a very comprehensive profile of your web browsing activities. If you sign into a website or service, it’ll know who you are, regardless of whether you’re using a VPN.
You also need to be wary of what information you personally share online, because even with a masked IP address, that information can be linked back to you. Sharing information is up to you and not something a VPN can help you with.
6. A no-logs policy means the VPN keeps no logs
Despite what they say, most VPNs will keep some logs in order to improve their services. These will typically be aggregated or anonymized logs that have information about how long you’ve connected to a server and which server you’re using etc., but not logs of your IP or device. This difference is usually hidden with some creative wording in the privacy policy, which is where all the confusion arises.
There have also been reports of some VPNs claiming to have no-logs policies and while technically true, they let third-party advertisers keep logs, which is a little misleading. So be sure to read the fine print of the privacy policy before you sign up to any plan.