A VPN tunnels official website data through a remote computer, which keeps it safe from hackers and prying eyes. It also makes it more difficult for sites and apps to track you — which is a positive thing. However it’s not always easy to find a solid free VPN. Many of them make money from their services in one way or another, and this can cause privacy issues. For example, Hola was recently found to share its users browsing habits with ad networks and this isn’t just a single situation.
Free VPNs are often limited in bandwidths, as they attempt to save on infrastructure costs. This leads to congested servers and slow speeds. In addition, the majority of them only provide the servers of a few, which can make it difficult to unblock content from certain countries.
Some of these websites have low levels of encryption, which means hackers are more likely to access your data. Websites can also blacklist them which is a different issue.
Free VPNs generally have minimal customer service and this can be an issue if you run into any issues. Premium VPNs however generally offer a 24 hour live chat as well as a comprehensive FAQ page.
With the drawbacks of free VPN, it’s worth paying for a decent paid VPN service to ensure your data is completely secure. Whether you want to stream films or play online games, or just browse the web without being tracked, premium VPNs will give you the best protection with the fastest speeds.