Why a VPN Might not be as Private or Trustworthy as you Think

We use VPNs to safeguard our data from governments and corporations, and their various nefarious uses. We are all told to use a VPN at all times, because you never know who might be watching. Anyone count be a threat, but for some reason VPN companies are trustworthy? There is no evidence that any given VPN doesn’t sell your data to companies/governments just like any other company would.

A VPN encrypts your data, yes, but the VPN provider can absolutely read and log that data, so what’s to stop them from doing whatever they want with it? You think you’re slick and anon with a VPN but in reality you’re just putting your trust in a company that, if we’re honest, would sell you down the river if it could benefit from that act.

All these VPN companies have shown up lately out of nowhere. Who are they? Where did they come from? What makes them so trustworthy? I don’t know! No-one knows! We just know you’re supposed to use a VPN and along these guys come offering unlimited “privacy” for $12 a month. Why so cheap?

Let’s talk about that for a second; $12 a month. You really think that RandomCompanyXYZ won’t provide your data to third parties for extra revenue, because you give them $12 a month? Listen to yourself. A company exists to make money, not to provide a product. If they can make more by selling their users’ data then so be it.

These companies did come out of nowhere didn’t they? No-one heard of NordVPN a few years ago yet now they’re all over YouTube sponsoring channels left right and center. What makes anyone think that they’re trustworthy? Anyone can go and rent server time and just run a VPN. You think a website and a cool name makes someone special and trust worthy? Don’t even start with those ‘one-time fee’ VPN providers. A lifetime of VPN service for $129? You pay once and they supposedly provide you with a lifetime of good service? That can only go one of two ways; either they remain online for years and years, and sell their customers’ data, or the company disappears just as quickly and mysteriously as it appeared. Don’t even get me started on providers of free VPN services. A company that promises something for nothing? Anyone under the age of 65 should know by now that that means your data is the payment.

You may say that these companies - the paid ones anyway - don’t log their users’ data, but what backs that claim up? A paragraph on their website about their log-free policy? Vague hints about some “impartial” third party somewhere that’s supposed to make sure everything is above board (but may just be a hollow dummy company set up to give customers a sense of security)? This is all too perfect and convenient for my liking.

Just recently, several supposedly no-log VPNs were found to be not only logging their customers’ data, but also storing those logs in unencrypted plain text, for anyone in the world to just look at and take. You might look at that list and feel relief that your VPN provider isn’t named, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve not been logging your data. It just means that they’ve not been caught.

Why are these VPN companies suddenly bastions of privacy? Why should they be trusted above any other company? VPN companies have slick marketing and fancy websites, but most of them - the popular ones - practically sprang up overnight. They have nothing to back their claims up, yet their customers trust them without question. They keep your data from other entities while in transit, sure. No-one is arguing that a VPN doesn’t do that. The issue is this; what’s the point if they just log it and sell it later - which they could easily do - anyway? You’re just moving the problem by one step.