A VPN or Virtual Private Network is often recommended to boost your online privacy and protect your data and Internet activities from prying eyes, including those of your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Although experts generally recommend using a trusted VPN service provider, which is most often paid, not everyone wants to spend on another monthly or annual subscription when there are so many free VPNs on the market. While a free VPN may seem like a good option because something is better than nothing, there are several potential risks you should be aware of before choosing one.
As the saying goes, “if you don’t pay for it, you are the product.” The same generally goes for free VPNs. Because a VPN service must make money, not only to make a profit, but also to manage the server and security infrastructure needed to run a virtual private network, free VPNs can sell your data to advertisers, display unnecessary ads, or even cut costs in otherwise important areas.
Free VPNs Can Be a Major Security Risk
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One of the biggest risks of using a free VPN is the likelihood of poor security, which can defeat the whole purpose of using a VPN and put you at risk. If a VPN doesn’t charge subscription fees and has no other reliable funding sources, it may not have the resources to maintain strong security protocols. Without these elements, not only is the privacy of your Internet connection at risk, but your devices and network become vulnerable to cyberthreats. Not only is there potential for something like this, but it’s actively happening with free VPNs.
According to a study by Zimperium, more than 65% of the 800 free VPN apps verified on the Apple and Google app stores exhibited risky behavior, including the use of unsafe APIs that leave the potential for abuse and initiating insecure activities that could allow attackers to bypass system-level security mechanisms. Further research by Top10VPN on 100 VPN apps showed similar failures, poor security, and risky permissions. Such issues put your device at risk of exploitation by malicious parties.
Potential for data leaks
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Besides the fact that free VPNs may sell your collected data, the collected data logs also risk being leaked into the wild due to insufficient security measures. This has actually happened several times in the past. The personally identifiable information of 20 million VPN users, who claimed to collect no data, was exposed online in 2020. Similarly, more than 25 million free VPN user records were leaked in 2022 and 360 million records were exposed online in 2023. In all three cases, the VPN service providers had left the databases containing users’ information online without any security measures.
This makes a strong case for only going with trusted providers, even if you have to pay for a premium VPN. That said, not all free VPN services are necessarily bad; Some reliable and trusted providers, like Proton and Windscribe, offer free VPN plans to allow users to test their services and possibly upgrade to a paid plan in the future. However, these plans are quite limited and may not be enough for everyday use.
