Are VPN services legal in UAE?

The people of the UAE follow the principles of government. These residents face many restrictions to stay secure and keep their government happy. Internet users in the UAE face severe restrictions. And they can’t access blocked online content such as popular streaming websites “Netflix” or the chatting platform “Skype”. Is there a solution to using these blocked platforms? Can all of these blocked contents be accessed via a VPN? If the UAE Government has also banned VPN, then what will happen?

Unfortunately, this has happened. UAE government has issued a rule for blocking VPN due to which local residents are facing difficulties. VPN restriction falls at number 12 under the Federal law of Cyber Crimes 2016. UAE residents were severely affected by this law. This ban had a very negative effect on businesses that were relying on VPNs and it forced them to ask that “Is VPN Legal or Illegal in UAE?”.

Are VPNs Legal or Illegal in UAE?

Are VPNs legal or illegal in UAE can be better understood by two statements given below:

• Article 1 of Federal Law No. 12 of 2016 modifying the Cyber Crimes Law gives for replacing the content of Article 9 of the Cyber Crimes Law as follows: 

“A punishment of temporary imprisonment and a fine of not less than AED 500,000 and not more than AED 2,000,000, or either of these two penalties, shall be imposed on whoever uses a fraudulent computer network protocol address by using a false address or a third-party address or by any other means for the purpose of committing a crime or preventing its discovery”.

• The parallel provision in the Cyber Crimes Law states as follows:

“Any person that circumvents the protocol address of the internet by using a delusive address or an address belonging to others or by any other means for the purpose of committing a crime or preventing its discovery shall be punished by imprisonment and a fine not less than (AED 150.000) and not exceeding (AED 500.000) or by any of these punishments.”

What is the conclusion from these statements?

Above both statements give a clear and concise message that UAE residents are only allowed to use legal VPN services. If they are not using it in a formal and legal way, then they will suffer from severe fines or imprisonment depending upon the severity of illegal use of a VPN. According to Cybercrime Law No. 9, agencies and police can take proper legal action against the person who uses VPN for illegal activities. From this discussion, it is concluded that the use of a VPN for any illegal purpose is totally prohibited by the UAE state. But if a UAE resident uses VPN for legitimate or legal purposes, then it is legal. Appropriate and valid use of a VPN is not illegal in the UAE. The legal use of a VPN is not considered as cyber-crime. So, in short, it depends upon people for which purpose they use VPN. As long as they use it positively, it is legal else it is illegal.

Reasons for using VPN in UAE

There are multiple reasons for using VPN in UAE, some of them are given below:

1. Network Security

Now it’s too common for us that “everyone tries to connect with the pubic Wi-Fi connection which is available for free”. This public Wi-Fi can be in any vehicle, cafes, airports or in the shopping malls. But these networks are not secure at all.

Some people might think that they are getting the internet connection for free but actually they are paying them in the form of their precious data. For securing themselves, UAE residents can use VPN. It protects them from hacker’s attacks who can steal their personal data.

2. Changing the IP Address

Actually, whenever you search for anything without using a VPN on the browser you can be easily tracked by Internet Service Provider or tracker in UAE. They can steal your data and can sell your data to third parties or to the advertisers. These advertisers can target advertisements on your device regarding your interest. For this reason, UAE residents need a secure method of browsing. The secure method is the use of a VPN which acts as a private tunnel as it hides your identity by masking with a new IP address. So, your data can be passed without any trouble and attacks.

3. Access block websites

Some applications and websites are banned by the government of UAE. You can’t use that it within this specific region. This is because you are assigned a specific IP address that shows your identity and location. Whenever you try to access blocked websites or applications, you will get an error message “This content is not available in this region”.

To avoid these complications, you can use a VPN in the UAE.

4. Protection of confidential data

Everyone is having confidential and private data on our devices like bank account details. Without a VPN, your private data can be accessed by hackers. These hackers can intercept your login details to hack your account.

In UAE, whenever you are accessing e-banking using VPN, you are actually sending your data through a secret tunnel.  

So, here is the question that comes into our mind “What is the Best VPN Provider for UAE in 2020？” We have a number of VPN service providers in the United Arab Emirates. But if we talk about the best VPN its “RitaVPN”. It provides us many services which are given below.

RitaVPN

We consider it the best VPN because:

1. It contains a fast and consistent connection speed.

2. It provides us excellent security with encryption. The data you send and receive is passed through a secret tunnel so that your data is secured from attackers or hackers.

3. It maintains the privacy level of each resident of the UAE by masking their IP Address.

4. It is used to unblock websites in UAE.

5. It is free from malicious viruses.

6. It contains a user-friendly interface. Whenever a new-user uses RitaVPN he faces no difficulty in understanding.