FIVE 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 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, 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 below) 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 Australia, 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.