You're Not Using a VPN? Bad Idea

In the by few years, PCMag has seen VPN services get from being fringe security utilities to red-hot, must-have cyber accessory.

The popularity (and necessity) of the once-lowly VPN is certainly due to the ever-growing legal and technological challenges to individual privacy. Virtual private networks are a tool whose time has clearly come. That's why it's and then surprising that a poll conducted by PCMag establish that, despite understanding the threats to their privacy, the vast majority of respondents don't use VPNs and never accept.

Unsecured Traffic

Of the 1,000 people polled by PCMag betwixt Feb. 7-nine, 71 percentage have never used a VPN.

That struck me for two reasons. Starting time of all, the search book we receive at PCMag for VPN-related manufactures is enormous. 2nd, many companies require the use of a corporate VPN when working remotely. That might explain why xv percent had used a VPN in the past, just don't currently log on.

Almost people, I assumed, would have crossed paths with a VPN at some point. And still, the vast majority of respondents not only practise not currently apply a VPN, they have never laid easily on one.

New (and Quondam) Threats to Privacy

What's interesting about the recent interest in VPNs is that it hasn't been tied to a unmarried issue, just rather an avalanche of privacy and security concerns. An awful lot has happened in the last few years, the answer to which has often been "use a VPN."

One of the beginning news items that seemed to spur VPN adoption was the decision past Congress to allow internet service providers (ISPs) to sell anonymized user data. That'due south reflected in our survey data, where 25 percent of respondents (correctly) identified ISPs every bit the biggest threat to their private privacy.

SecurityWatch In our survey, 24 pct of respondents too listed Facebook as a threat to their privacy. This was despite the fact that our survey was in the field back in February, before the Cambridge Analytica scandal raised nascent privacy concerns most the social network to a new level. I imagine that if we ran the same survey now, even more consumers would be concerned about Facebook, and rightly so.

Admittedly, a VPN won't practice much when it comes to the kind of surveillance carried out by Facebook, just information technology's even so spooky to larn that the company is even tracking users who don't take Facebook accounts.

Related Story Meet How We Examination VPNs

These issues haven't been limited to the US. Russia and Prc accept introduced new rules that make it much harder for VPNs to operate inside those countries. Furthermore, Russia recently banned pop encrypted messaging app Telegram, reportedly driving more users to adopt VPNs.

Another threat reflected in the survey is the dangers in using public Wi-Fi networks. In that location'due south no way to know that the network labeled "Starbucks_Wifi" is legit and not a network created for the limited purpose of nabbing people's personal information. Fortunately, 43 per centum of respondents said the main reason they would use a VPN was to access public Wi-Fi.

And then there'due south net neutrality. Many hoped that the ongoing fight to ensure that ISPs must treat all web traffic every bit in terms of speed and accessibility would end with updated FCC rules during the Obama administration. Unfortunately, a new FCC chairman decided (incorrectly) that these rules were unnecessary and successfully dismantled them.

This is where our numbers seem a fleck out of step with reality, as we institute that 55 percent of respondents who agreed with the concept of net neutrality had never used a VPN. Although 46 per centum said they supported it, 32 pct didn't know what it was. That's disappointing on its ain.

Is Privacy Dead?

Besides disheartening were the responses about voluntarily surrendering personal information.

A dismal 62 percent of respondents said they'd willingly hand over personal data for gratis Wi-Fi. Another 23 pct said they would hand over personal info for exclusive content on video streaming platforms, and xiii percent said they'd do it for exclusive content in video games.

A staggering vii percent said they would surrender personal info for free adult content. I find this specially mind blowing, as at that place is not (last I checked) a dearth of gratis porn on the internet.

That said, a fundamental caveat of this particular set of questions was the phrase "willingly." Also ofttimes, people aren't aware of the information they're giving up in exchange for a free mobile app or what companies can see when they share a post on Facebook. If we're going to employ our personal information as currency, it's better that we brand those transactions willingly.

You Should Definitely Apply a VPN

In all my writing well-nigh VPNs, I've tried to stress their limitations. They won't brand you lot truly bearding online (you need Tor for that), and there's a risk anytime you use a for-profit company for security (yous can gyre your own VPN with Outline, simply I digress).

Many of you lot have concerns about using VPNs in full general, such as what kind of impact a VPN will have on internet speeds (37 pct), whether or not it will piece of work with a item online service (15 percent), and if it tin can be used to access Netflix (28 percent). Those are legitimate concerns, and ones that have only been partially solved by VPN companies.

Simply the last few years have shown that an economy based around gathering user information has real consequences. Between information breaches, foreign election influence, and the sheer volume of data being gathered by seemingly innocuous services, it'southward never been more urgent to take command of our privacy online. A VPN won't solve all those issues, only information technology's a start and one that just 29 pct of you have then far used.