Are VPN services secure?

3. May 2023

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As a general rule, using a VPN is safe, but you need to choose a quality and verified VPN service. And this is where you can get burned.

There are hundreds of VPNs on the market today. Even more so when you consider the free VPNs in stores like the Apple Store and Google Play. Unfortunately, most of these services – and especially the free ones – have flaws, bugs and problems that pose a threat to your security and privacy.

In other words, there are very few quality VPN services that you can be 100% sure will realistically protect you from data leaks on all of your devices.

For example, one interesting study found that 84% of free VPN apps for Android misuse user data. Many people already know that they should avoid free VPNs. Yet these dangerous apps continue to be used by millions of people around the world.

There are plenty of reasons to avoid free VPN services altogether:

Embedded malware – malicious software (quite common with free VPNs)
Hidden tracking – many popular VPN providers hide tracking in their apps to collect data about you
Third-party access to your data
Stealing internet bandwidth
Internet browser infections
Data leaks (IP address leaks, DNS leaks)
Fraud (identity theft and financial fraud)

There are also some scam VPN services to watch out for that should be avoided. For example, they offer you a lifetime (one-time) subscription or take advantage of fake ratings, reviews or comments.

Security is the most important factor to consider when choosing a VPN. Your internet traffic is redirected and passes through the servers of your chosen VPN provider. This means that the service provider’s company could theoretically see everything you do on the internet (if it wanted to). That’s why it’s important to choose a trusted, reputable and high-quality VPN service that has ideally been audited by a third party to confirm that the service provided is secure and doesn’t retain any data about its users.

Finally, we can define two golden rules for choosing a VPN service:

NEVER use VPN services that are free. If you should be using a free VPN service, you’d be better off not using one.

ALWAYS choose a trusted and reputable VPN service. Our site, which deals with VPN testing, can help you choose such a service.

Want to start using a VPN right away? We encourage you to try out the VPN services that have stood out in our tests and won the Excellent VPN Service award from us. The VPN services listed below offer great speeds, strong security, and have a number of other benefits available.