In an era where digital privacy feels increasingly out of reach, millions turn to VPNs as their first line of defence, trusting them to encrypt activity, bypass censorship and shield against surveillance. Whether you're a dissident in Tehran, a journalist in Hong Kong, or simply someone trying to access Netflix abroad, VPNs are marketed as impenetrable vaults of anonymity. However, what if the very tools we rely on to stay invisible online are quietly collecting, selling, or even weaponizing our data or even distributing them to your adversaries?

As VPN ownership consolidates behind a handful of opaque corporations and foreign-linked entities, the question isn't just how secure VPNs are, but who might be watching behind the encryption.

What Is A VPN

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a secure digital tunnel that encrypts your internet connection and routes it through servers in different geographic locations, masking your IP address and shielding your online activity from surveillance or censorship. Common use cases include protecting sensitive data on public Wi-Fi, accessing region-restricted content, and maintaining privacy from corporate tracking or government monitoring. For individuals living under authoritarian regimes like China, Iran, or even Canada since the beginning of the Trudeau era, VPNs are often essential tools for bypassing internet firewalls, accessing blocked websites and social media platforms, and communicating securely without fear of state surveillance or retaliation.

Free VPNs: Privacy Illusion?

The allure of free VPNs is strong, especially for mobile users connecting to public Wi-Fi. However, these services often come with a hidden cost: your data. Apps like Betternet and Hola VPN have allegedly been exposed for data harvesting, ad injection, and even selling user bandwidth to third parties. One VPN turned out to be a peer-to-peer network, meaning other users could effectively "cloak" their activity through your IP address an alarming risk for anyone concerned with legality and liability.

This begs the question: what really happens to the data routed through these "free" VPN services?

Is it logged? Sold? Shared with governments? Or possibly analysed and stored for future use? Are there risks we are not considering?