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For many people the summer holidays are finally approaching (by the way, what alternatives to AirBnb?) and someone is precisely in these moments who he worries about having a VPN with him, possibly free. Maybe because he fears having to connect to the hotel's WiFi that he doesn't trust or if he has to connect to some public city connection not too sure. We'll talk about what we think is the best free VPN: ProtonVPN.
Let's start by telling you right away that a VPN it doesn't help you hide nor to make you anonymous (Do I need a VPN to avoid being tracked?). Your provider (Fastweb, Telecom, Wind etc), for example, will know that you are connected to a VPN. However, he will not be able to see what you are doing. When you browse normally, however, it is potentially possible for them to find out and log in any of your online operations (intended as the sites you visit, not their content which is now always encrypted apart from very rare cases).
Even the VPN manager though can keep logs of what you do and there have been several scandals of Free VPNs who sold the data to third parties 1. Furthermore, it is recent news that also UFO VPN 2 and many other providers 3 they saved the logs even though they said otherwise.
Free VPNs are generally not recommended exactly for this reason.
Best Free VPN: ProtonVPN. And the others?
Many use the Free VPNs to hide what they do from their providers. We have in fact received news of disturbing messages from Italian providers towards users who used the BitTorrent network.
The Free VPNs they are therefore a means within everyone's reach for not being persecuted by their providers, but the risk is of ending up in even worse hands.
Let us always remember that a quality product generally has to be paid for.
Why ProtonVPN? Do I need a VPN?
Almost everyone knows about VPNs by now, especially now that they are also sponsored by the most famous YouTubers 4.
But what what is a VPN? Let's keep it simple: it allows you to connect using a third-party server such as bridge. The sites you visit will therefore see you with the address of the server you are connected to, so if it is a French server you will appear French. There are different types of VPNs and if you want to delve a little deeper you can read here.
Your operations, the sites you visit and your real IP address, however, could be registered by whoever manages the VPN. You therefore understand how important the company you choose is reliable, safe, independent and (guess what) you use software Open source?
We know that many people they use a free VPN to download from torrents (because you are always tracked when you do it, remember?) and/or to see streaming movies and not get “caught”. However, we'll tell you right away, It is not intended to be a guide to free VPNs. We are still evaluating whether to do it or not. Because in reality free VPNs are a real jungle and This doesn't mean it's a good idea use them. And then because there are already several guides and comparisons online.
That's why we're going to talk about the only VPN we trust even in its free version but which, obviously, does not allow you to use P2P (yes in the paid version).
ProtonVPN is private, secure, Open source and also excellent in the free version
ProtonVPN it is in fact our first choice. A company Swiss which has already distinguished itself for its ability and seriousness thanks to ProtonMail created a VPN totally Open source 5 with servers in all parts of the world. In the version free you can only connect to three servers: Netherlands, United States And Japan. In the paid one, however, there are up to 50 countries 6.
What is it for? For many things, for example if you want to bypass a block of any kind based on geolocation. Or if you feel unsure about the connection you are using for various reasons. It can be useful for example if you are in some way forced to use WiFi without a password.
In that case anyone on your network could potentially know what you do in some way steal your data 7. However, we don't want to terrify anyone: in these times, where any connection is now in HTTPS, a similar attack is decidedly rare and complex! Luckily, since according to a survey 82% of people regularly use public WiFi without passwords 8.
Best Free VPN: ProtonVPN. Also for privacy
It's not just a question of safety, though. It's also a matter of privacy. Using a connection publishes the sites we visit they might be analyzed by whoever is offering us the connection and in general by whoever is connected to the same network as you 9. And maybe we don't want to let the local on duty (or the city network) know that we were on a certain site at a certain time.
With a VPN you would be safe from this too. It is important however, and we repeat, that the VPN chosen is reliable.
ProtonVPN, as we said, it is. They also recently released all their applications in Open source 5 and with independent audit. Even in their free version. On the contrary, as a free VPN perhaps it really is the only reliable VPN.
The ProtonVPN app is also cross-platform. In fact, you can use it on Windows, on macOS, on Linux, on Android and also up iOS!
The other VPNs
There are other VPNs too. The one we most recommend next ProtonVPN it's surely Mullvad VPN.
One of the most famous, used and sponsored is NordVPN, despite the scandal last year when it was hacked 10. Plus its client it is not Open source (but you can use the OpenVPN protocol 11) And they do not offer a free service.
It also exists Windscribe of which, however, we have no direct experience and here too Nothing Open source And no free service. Another recommended VPN is IVPN. Instead, it is generally spoken well of Private Internet Access despite the same doubts as above.
We leave you by telling you that There are also decentralized VPNs which we weren't able to find out much about, but if you're curious you can discover them yourself: radvpn, Mysterium Network and Tachyon VPN.
- How FREE VPNs Sell Your Data[↩]
- “Zero logs” VPN exposes millions of logs including user passwords, claims data is anonymous[↩]
- Seven 'no log' VPN providers accused of leaking[↩]
- How to get Sio's discount on NordVPN[↩]
- All ProtonVPN apps are now Open source and audited[↩][↩]
- ProtonVPN Servers[↩]
- How does a VPN protect you on public Wi-Fi?[↩]
- REPORT: 82% of People Say They Connect to Any Free WiFi That's Available in a Public Place[↩]
- Why browsing on Starbucks Wi-Fi is dangerous and how you can best play it safely[↩]
- NordVPN confirms it was hacked[↩]
- What is OpenVPN?[↩]
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