Issue 631 • 11 – 24 May 2022 51FIVE COMMON VPN MYTHS BUSTED
All VPNs keep you anonymous
A VPN encrypts the connection between
your PC or mobile device and a web
server. This disguises your IP address so
websites and apps can’t see your location
- and neither can hackers or snoopers.
However, some VPNs collect usage data,
including your IP address, connection
times and details of your activities, and
sell it to third parties such as advertisers.
Even reputable VPNs may be required
to pass your data to government agencies,
if they’re based in one of the ‘Fourteen
Eyes’ countries. This international
alliance is an expansion of the original
Five Eyes alliance formed during the Cold
War, and includes the UK, United States,
Canada, Australia and France (see http://www.
snipca.com/41661 for the full list, and the
map above right). This allows intelligence
agencies to share data about internet
users, primarily to combat terrorism.
VPNs are supposed to protect against
surveillance, but in Fourteen Eyes
countries this isn’t guaranteed - even if
you’re doing nothing wrong. Therefore, if
you’re determined to remain anonymous,
you need to use a VPN that doesn’t log,
share or sell your data – and that means
choosing one outside the jurisdiction of
the Fourteen Eyes countries.
We should also point out that no VPN
can make you completely anonymous
unless you only use the web passively and
never sign into any websites or apps.
Free VPNs can’t be trusted
Although free VPNs are more likely to
make their money by selling your data,
not all of them engage in dodgy practices.
As we reveal in our group test on page 52,
there are several trustworthy free
services, though these tend to be from
companies that also have paid-for plans- rather than VPNs you only find in app
and browser add-on stores.
Even if they don’t collect and share
your data, free VPNs tend to offer a
more limited service, with fewer features
and servers than paid-for alternatives or
limits on how much data you can use
each month. For example, the unlimited
free VPN built into Opera (www.opera.
com, see screenshot left) may sound
appealing, but it’s really just a web
proxy that doesn’t encrypt data
outside the browser
and offers a small choice of servers.
However, free VPNs are still useful
if you need one only occasionally.
Just read their privacy policies first.
Your ISP won’t know
you use a VPN
As well as hiding your IP address,
VPNs encrypt data you send and
receive over the internet, so your
ISP can’t see what you’re doing.
However, your provider can tell
that you’re using a fake IP address
owned by a VPN. This isn’t a huge
problem in the UK, because it’s
legal to use a VPN - unlike in the
United Arab Emirates, Belarus,
North Korea and other countries
where they’re banned - but it
may suggest you have something
to hide.To get round this, some VPNs offer a
‘stealth mode’ that masks your VPN
‘tunnel’ to make it look like the HTTPS or
HTTP traffic your ISP expects to see.A VPN makes browsing slow
Because a VPN reroutes your internet
traffic through its own servers, it adds an
extra stop between your computer or
mobile device and a website or app. It
also uses a small portion of bandwidth to
encrypt your data en route. Both factors
can slow your connection, but it also
depends on your distance from the VPN
server, how many other users are
connected and the type of encryption the
VPN uses. You may not even notice a drop
in performance - if your ISP regularly
delivers speeds of 100Mbps, a drop to
90Mbps won’t make much difference.
A VPN could even speed up your
connection. Some ISPs limit, or ‘throttle’,
their users’ bandwidth when they engage
in heavy downloading or streaming at
busy times. A VPN hides your activities,
so you won’t be unfairly throttled.VPNs protect you from malware
It’s a common misconception that a VPN
protects you against malware and
phishing scams. But while a VPN with
strong encryption will stop hackers
intercepting your data, and disguising
your IP address protects your home
network from attack, it’s no substitute for
reliable antivirus software. A VPN won’t
identify infected downloads and websites- though some services offer protection
against trackers and suspicious links. Nor
will it block malware from your PC. It’s
important to remain as vigilant when
using a VPN as you are without one.
Opera’s free VPN offers unlimited data but doesn’t
encrypt all your online activities
Countries in the Fourteen Eyes alliance can order VPNs to share their users’ dataVPN
MASTER YOUR