VPN companies like to make it seem like their product will solve all of your privacy and security issues but most of the claims they make are just flat-out lies, over-exaggerated or only true in specific scenarios.

This is primarily about mainstream VPNs like NordVPN, ExpressVPN and others with huge advertising budgets so they make false or incomplete claims about their product.

What can your ISP see about your internet traffic#

All modern apps and websites nowadays use HTTPS, which is enabled if you have a green padlock in your browser, the content of your traffic like the specific page you’re on, message content if you’re sending a dm on discord or snapchat and more is hidden from them encrypted between your device and that website. Your ISP can only see the domain of the site you’re connecting to (e.g google.com, discord.com).

This is significantly less than “all of your internet traffic”, and is pretty much a non issue unless you want to for example hide that you’re looking at adult sites but even then ISPs don’t look at these logs unless required to by law or if they’re hacked.

They aren’t anonymous or private, and many still keep logs despite claiming not to#

Even though they do somewhat protect your identity from sites you’re not logged into, your VPN provider has your personal and billing details (including your address). If you want true anonymity use a provider like Mullvad which lets you pay with Crypto like Monero and doesn’t require you to enter your personal or billing info.

They were once visited by the Swedish police with a search warrant who left with nothing because the customer data they were requesting did not exist, you can read their blog post on it here.

VPNs shift trust, they don’t give you privacy#

When you connect to a VPN it hides what sites you’re connecting to from your ISP, but then lets your VPN provider see it instead.

The one exception to this rule is Obscura VPN, who uses a two provider design where your traffic is first sent to their own entry node who knows your IP but not what site you’re connecting to, then relayed to an exit server which can’t see your IP but knows the site you’re connecting to.

The entry server doesn’t forward the origin address so your request gets mixed in with all the other requests being forwarded.

What VPNs are actually useful for#

  • Accessing shows in other countries on streaming services.

Since they essentially just tunnel your traffic through a server, if you connect to one in another country streaming services will think you’re located where that server is.

  • Hiding your IP address on P2P services like Games or Torrenting.

You can protect yourself from DDoS attacks on P2P online games with them, and typically when Torrenting you’re downloading something copyrighted so its best that your IP isn’t associated with it.

  • Bypassing internet restrictions (UK Online Safety Act, Australian Social Media Ban)

As most large websites and social medias use your IP address to figure out your location, connecting to a server located somewhere without those restrictions will typically let you bypass it.

Which VPNs you should use#

A privacy first provider that requires zero personal information and promotes paying with privacy respecting currencies like Crypto, even letting you mail cash to them and a no logs policy proven in court.

If you’re already in their ecosystem with an unlimited plan this is a great choice, they have tons of locations great performance and apps on almost everything. They’re also solid for privacy being headquartered in switzerland which has no obligation to log (according to a comment made by their reddit account here)

I personally use this vpn myself for accessing region blocked content on streaming services as I already use their ecosystem.