Ever wondered why free VPNs don’t cost any money? Well, that’s because you’re the product, not the customer! These companies have to make enough money somehow and this is usually done at the expense of your personal data.
If you plan to sign up for such a service, it’s crucial to understand what you’re getting yourself into. In this post, we’ve highlighted why you shouldn’t download a free VPN and recommended a paid secure VPN that takes your privacy seriously.
Are Free VPNs Safe?
Short answer: Free VPNs are far from safe! A VPN is supposed to protect you from unwarranted monitoring and surveillance. However, these so-called free services do the exact opposite. Here are the prominent risks of using free VPN services:
They Infect Your Device with Malware
According to a CSIRO study, 38% of free Android VPNs are embedded with malware! While they come in various forms, the intention is to steal your personal data so they can:
- Serve you targeted ads
- Take control of your online accounts
- Steal your bank and credit card details
- Encrypt your data in exchange for a ransom
They Redirect You to Certain Websites
Another way free VPN services can make money off you is through browser hijacking – i.e. when your browser is hijacked and redirected to partnership websites without your authorization. Sometimes these websites can also be malicious and you might end up infecting your device with a virus.
They Track & Sell Your Personal Data
Though obvious, a VPN shouldn’t log any of your personal data. It defeats the very purpose of using these services. But free VPNs not only track your data, but also sell it to third-parties for a profit. The CSIRO study found that 75% of free VPNs use tracking libraries. Scary right?
They Give Third-Party Access to Your Data
Source: Hola VPN
Many free VPNs share user information with third-parties and this is clearly mentioned on their websites. Most people don’t look beyond the word “free” and never actually read the terms and conditions. Data collection has become the new norm and using free services could mean giving away your privacy and security.
They Leak Your IP Address
The biggest benefit of using a VPN service is that it encrypts your data from end-to-end, making it unreadable to any prying eyes that may be watching. Unfortunately, there are many free VPNs that have IP leak issues – i.e. when your IP address is left exposed and the VPN tunnel doesn’t cover it.
They Steal Your Bandwidth and Resell It
Did you know that some free VPNs steal your bandwidth and then sell it to third-parties? The people using your stolen bandwidth through those third-party services may never even know they’re engaging in bandwidth theft.
PureVPN – A Secure VPN Provider That You Can Trust
You lose more than you again when it comes to free VPN services, isn’t that so? Therefore, you’re better of using paid options like PureVPN, which gives you access to 750+ Ozone-ready VPN servers in 141+ countries and 88,000+ anonymous IPs.
You’ll also have a plethora of VPN features, including Split Tunneling, Internet Kill Switch, and Military-Grade 256-bit encryption. Sure, it’ll set you back a few dollars, but in the end you’ll get exactly what you pay for: complete online privacy, security, and freedom!
NOTE: As you can see, there’s also a juicy anniversary discount that you avail for a limited time period only. Now get 77% off for lifetime on PureVPN’s 2-Year plan. So, what are you waiting for? Get the world’s fastest and most reliable VPN service at $2.49 per month!
Wrapping Things Up
Though not all free VPNs are necessarily bad, the fact remains: many of these so-called free services have been found to engage in shady practices. For this reason, it’s important that you stick to paid options like PureVPN that genuinely care about your privacy and security!
