- The number one problem
on the internet right now is data privacy.
We're all constantly being tracked online
and you've probably heard
that a VPN is one way you can protect yourself.
And because of this, the market has exploded with options.
But if you're using a random VPN you found
on the App Store or Play Store, you need to stop using it.
And it's not that you shouldn't use a VPN
but I'm gonna be exposing how these no name VPNs
are blatantly selling your personal data.
First, I need to be clear on which VPNs I'm referring to.
You've probably heard of all the popular VPNs
that every YouTuber talks about, like NordVPN,
Surfshark, and ExpressVPN.
And while some of these VPNs are better than others,
they're all generally trustworthy.
But one day it occurred to me what would happen
if I just pull out my phone, open the App Store
and search VPN?
I could not believe the results.
VPN Super Unlimited Proxy, 1.6 million reviews.
X-VPN, 356 K reviews.
VPN Proxy Master, 276 K,VPN.., 161,000 reviews.
VPN Unlimited Best VPN, 154,000 reviews.
What are all these random VPNs and why are they so popular?
They must be really good, right?
VPNs are typically used
for a few different reasons: to protect your data
and hide your browsing activity
from your home internet service provider
or public Wi-Fi networks
or to access region-locked content on streaming services
or to access websites that may be blocked
with a firewall on your workplace or university network.
So I decided to download a few of these VPNs
and see how they performed in each of these categories.
I started with VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy,
and as soon as I opened the app,
there was immediately a red flag.
There was a privacy policy popup
that said it logged device-specific information
like the OS version,
hardware version, your IP address, and it was keeping logs
on total time connected to the VPN and bandwidth used.
These are huge red flags for a VPN service.
A good VPN service is one that doesn't keep any logs
and VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy is essentially admitting
to keeping logs right out of the gate.
At least they're honest about it.
When you accept the terms and continue,
you'll immediately get obnoxious popup ads.
Everything you do in the app,
connect to the VPN, watch a popup ad.
Open the VPN app to disconnect from it?
You gotta watch a popup ad first.
Oh, but don't worry,
they do have a premium version for $12 a month
or $80 a year to remove ads and access the premium servers.
But this is a complete ripoff
when well-established VPNs like Surfshark
go for less than $60 a year,
but VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy
does offer a free version.
And I gotta say the speeds are pretty impressive
for a free VPN.
I got about 100 megabits per second down
and 175 megabits per second up.
And this is totally fast enough to do streaming
and downloading content in a reasonable amount of time.
They do have locations in other countries
for you to choose from
but when I connected to the London server,
I was not able to access any UK-specific shows on Netflix.
I searched for them, but they just didn't show up.
But I was at least able to stream US content
on Netflix without a problem.
However, it is rare
that Netflix blocks the IP addresses of any VPN.
My experience was similar with the other apps that I tried.
X-VPN had a popup that said they don't sell, use
or disclose your information to third parties not mentioned.
Wait a minute.
So X-VPN is using, disclosing
or selling their information to third parties?
Yep, they even mentioned examples like Admob,
Tapjoy and Facebook.
So this random VPN on the App Store is disclosing
or maybe even selling your information to Facebook.
Yeah, sure sounds like a private browsing experience to me.
The free version of X-VPN was super slow
and the premium version was way overpriced.
Just like, wait, what was it called?
Oh yeah, VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy.
Next, I wanted to try VPN..
and with the name like that,
I just had to know if it was any good.
After all, 161,000 other people seemed to think it was good.
I opened the app and got past the popup ad
and then there was another popup inviting me
to try this VPN for free.
I thought it seemed a little strange, but I thought, well,
VPN.. is free and I do wanna try it.
So I pressed continue and it redirected me
to the App Store for an app called VPN Degrees.
Wait a minute, I thought VPN.. was free.
Well, I looked at VPN Degrees
and it was a different developer
on the App Store not associated with VPN..
So which one is it?
Is it VPN.. or is it VPN Degrees
or is VPN Degrees running a paid ad in VPN..?
None of this makes sense.
What's next? VPN comma?
At least that one could maybe have some proper grammar
in the app. (host chuckling)
Anyways, back to VPN..
This has to be the most bizarre VPN app I've ever tried.
I went to the privacy policy
on their website and it reads, we keep no log.
That's it.
No data is saved from your internet activity.
I'm sorry, VPN..
But a privacy policy can't be that simple
but it seems like a good idea on paper.
They're saying they don't keep logs,
so that's it, right?
But the privacy policy doesn't even mention a company name,
an address where they operate.
It basically is not legally binding at all
because you don't know who you're making an agreement with.
Also, this VPN app totally has a game baked into it.
That's strange.
I guess if you get bored when you're selecting your server,
you can have some entertainment.
The speed of VPN.. was pretty good for a free VPN.
I got about 100 megabits per second down
and 100 megabits per second up.
But something about all these VPN apps just feels off.
Why are there so many out there?
Why are people even using them?
These have to be some
of the worst VPN apps I've ever tested.
They have obnoxious popup ads, sketchy privacy policies.
The premium versions are way overpriced
and you can get a way better VPN anywhere else.
All I can think of
is that people just don't know any better.
They know they want a VPN
so they go to the App Store or Play Store, they search VPN,
they look at all the top results that have great reviews
from thousands or millions of people.
They pick one, they install it
and they never think about it again.
But even if you put aside the poor performance
and obnoxious ads,
I have serious concerns about the privacy of these VPNs.
Many of them are openly admitting to logging
and selling your personal data and isn't the whole point
of a VPN to hide your personal data
from entities like your internet service provider?
If you're going to hide your internet traffic
from your home internet service provider
or a public Wi-Fi network,
you need to be sure you can trust the entity
that you're routing all of your internet traffic through.
And I don't think most of these VPN apps are trustworthy.
These VPNs are free and ad supported
so they're likely sharing
or selling your information with third parties.
Data is worth a lot of money.
So while you may think you're protecting your privacy
and hiding your browsing activity,
there's a good chance you're just feeding it straight
to an analytics company that's gonna sell it off
to the highest bidder
and your browsing activity is not private at all.
If you're looking for a free VPN,
I would recommend Proton VPN or Atlas VPN.
These VPNs have a way better reputation
than the no name App Store VPNs
and Proton VPN even offers unlimited free usage with no ads.
And if you're willing to pay for a VPN,
use Surfshark or Mullvad.
I have an entire video on the best VPN
for different use cases that you can watch right here.