Free VPN Services – What You Need to Know

Many people who are new to VPN services start out by looking for a free VPN in order to save money, rather than searching for the best VPN that will keep their data safe.

The truth is that these free VPN services are actually cashing in on their user base – usually by collecting user data and then selling it to the highest bidder. When you route your traffic through a free VPN app on your device, the VPN can easily collect your online activity and sell this to third parties and advertising networks.

⚠️Free VPN malware
“Over 38% of [free VPN apps] contain some malware presence…” CSIRO study

⚠️Free VPN tracking
“We identified the presence of at least one tracking library in 75% of the free VPN apps claiming to protect users’ privacy.” CSIRO study

⚠️Third party access to your data
Once your data is collected by the free VPN, it can then be sold or transferred to third parties, for profit.

⚠️Stolen bandwidth
Some businesses are also using free VPNs to steal user bandwidth and reselling it to third parties.

⚠️Browser hijacking
Another way that free VPN services can make money off their users is through browser hijacking. This is when the VPN hijacks and redirects your browser to partnership websites without your permission.

⚠️Free VPN data leaks
A good VPN should secure and encrypt all of the traffic between your device and the VPN server.

👉In testing over 280 different free VPNs, the CSIRO study found

❗️ 84% of free VPNs expose the user’s real, globally-unique IPv6 address
❗️ 66% of free VPNs leak DNS requests, thereby exposing the user’s browsing history and location

Conclusion on free VPN services

Unfortunately, the free VPN scam does not show any signs of letting up. More people are turning to VPN services in response to censorship, content blocks, and concerns over privacy and security – and free VPNs are taking advantage of this trend.

While awareness about these risks continues to grow, the Google Play and Apple stores are still loaded with hundreds of malicious and invasive free VPN apps – many of them with excellent ratings from naive users. Even worse, many of these VPNs are operating from dubious overseas jurisdictions, particularly China, which do not recognize Western privacy laws and regulations.

Source and much more info at: https://restoreprivacy.com/free-vpn/

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