A VPN or Virtual Private Network allows you to create a secure connection to another network over the Internet and makes your traffic protected and private. Using the best VPN we can access the geographically restricted content or blocked websites in a different country. The VPN is ultimately connected to the Internet it also offers people the opportunity to hide their identity and access restricted content via proxy servers.
Thousands of free VPNs will promise you to keep your data secure and private at no cost. This deal seems great. On the other hand, some VPNs are expensive and complicated software that requires a great deal of investment to maintain our security level. So what is the difference between both of them? Free VPN providers need to cover costs and turn a profit. They make profits from their customers using hidden tools and tricks. These tools are not only dangerous but completely let down the principles of VPNs.
After social media apps, VPN is the most used software. Most people prefer to use free VPN services. No one pays attention to the dark sides of a free VPN. Although VPNs are beneficial for the people, free VPNs might be a big mistake. You are not paying in the form of money but you are paying them in the form of your personal data and information.
Here are some dark sides of using a free VPN.
Loss of privacy and security
The biggest disadvantage of free VPN is privacy leakage. The main idea of a VPN is to protect your data from hackers. Free VPNs can keep track of all your content, your IP address, banking information, social media credentials, confidential content and the types of sites you visit, etc. In addition to privacy issues, you would want to hide your IP but free VPN doesn’t always allow you high cybersecurity as they seem to represent. It is very difficult to judge the quality of a VPN without using it. So its better to keep your self safe from free VPN services.
Selling your private information
Free VPN service providers often do not come with a no-log policy. It indicates that a VPN provider will steal your all browsing data, sensitive information and sell it to third parties. In the last few years, private data leakage becomes more prominent. Some of the malware has been discovered on free services VPN which will put your private data and the integrity of your device at risk. They also expose you to adware, riskware, malware, trojans, spyware, and countless other online malice.
Limiting the amount of data
One of the biggest disadvantages of using a free VPN is data limitation. As some of the VPNs are free of cost so there are some plans to earn the money. For this purpose, there are some VPN that limit the amount of data you can use within the month after that you have to pay to get the unlimited data. Basically, they push you into upgrading to a paid plan. It’s just like a trap in which users get caught helplessly.
Slow down the Device speed
No matter what type of device you are using Whether a mobile phone or a computer if you are using free VPN there always be a risk of slowing down system speed. Now the question is “How VPN slow down device speed?”. Free VPN sometimes has a built-in cryptocurrency mining algorithm which mines the cryptocurrency by utilizing your device processing power results in the slow speed of the device.
Slow down the internet speed
The use of free VPNs leads to great fluctuation in the internet speed. There are several reasons for that.
1. “The location of the sever” that is placed distant from your real location may cause a slow internet connection.
2. “Protocol” that is being used while using a VPN like OpenVPN, PPTP can cause a delay in internet connectivity.
3.” Server Load”, greater the server load will affect the speed of the internet so you will face the slow speed
Online Tracking
One of the main reasons for online tracking is a targeted advertisement. Sometimes we assume that we can’t be tracked using the free VPN, but this is the worst offense that can happen. Studies show us that free VPNs have embedded third-party trackers in their software. They can log your data and they recognize your likes and dislikes. After gathering your online activities, data are given to advertisers and they can target you with their Ads. This is called a targeted advertisement.
Selling your device bandwidth
Some of the free VPNs not only show the advertisements to make money, but they also sell the bandwidth of your device for profit. You will experience the slow internet speed using a VPN because you are letting other users use your bandwidth and processor. A free VPN can also aggregate the bandwidth and sell it to the highest bidder. This bidder can use your bandwidth for the criminal activities as well. This is unfair to the user. Some of the most famous free VPN was caught in 2015 for stealing users’ bandwidth and selling it. It’s better to use paid VPN services which keep your bandwidth secure.
Blocked Netflix
One of the VPN use is to unblock websites. Although it is quite easy to unblock most websites or content, some content may still be hard to access.
for example, Netflix is not accessible by free VPN because it can use an AntiVPN system to block IP addresses associated with VPN. It is impossible for VPN with limited network servers to bypass through it. For this reason, Some of the paid VPNs are able to unblock it due to large network infrastructure.
Annoying Ads
When you come in contact with the free VPN, you would go beyond getting hit with a few annoying pop-up advertisements. As you are not paying them so they make the money by showing advertisements. These advertisements are not only irritating but can also contain malware or slow down the internet speed. So, our recommendation is always prefer paid VPN over free VPN.
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Acknowledging which VPN is best to use?
Keeping all the dark side in mind, we recommend you to use RitaVPN which ensures the best results in the form of optimizing security, smooth streaming, fast speed, device compatible and good customer support.
