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These companies don’t have to monetize their free applications directly. Freemium services like Windscribe, TunnelBear, and Proton VPN are good examples. It’s safer to choose free VPNs that are subsidized by paid-for VPN services. Being subsidized by a paid service (another VPN or security software).These are most common ways free VPNs make money: As the saying goes: if you aren’t paying for a product, then you are the product. How a free VPN makes its money is really important. It isn’t really possible to run a VPN for free. There are development, infrastructure, and staff costs, to list a few. At the very worst, some actively harvest your data. Most popular free VPNs on the App Store or Google Play Store belong to companies that do not prioritize user privacy. We investigate which companies and individuals are behind a VPN service.įor example, our past research revealed how 60% of popular free VPNs had suspicious links to China, – including many free VPN services in Taiwan. Basically, free ‘VPNs’ like these are proxies that don’t encrypt your data. We see many popular free VPNs like YogaVPN and TurboVPN leak DNS and IP address information. Many free VPNs are poorly maintained – as a result, they simply aren’t secure. Strong encryption and a secure server network cost money. If you are using a VPN to use the internet privately, avoid those that have advertising. Some free VPNs even log your web browsing data and sell it to third-parties. Most services do it through in-app ads, with third-party code that sends internet usage data back to the ad platform. We’ve explained below the potential dangers of using an unverified and risky free VPN: Data Logging & Advertisingįree VPN services need to make money to support their business.
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Sources: 1 Global Mobile VPN Report, 2 Free VPN Ownership Investigation, 3 Free VPN Risk Index: Android Apps
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