Published on February 27, 2024 François Charron
A recent survey by NordVPN shows that almost one in three Canadians uses a free VPN. Therefore, they put their data at risk by thinking about protecting it on iPhones, Android devices or their Mac or PC computer.
We've heard more and more about VPNs in recent years.
Although some people still don't know what a VPN is for, we are seeing more and more people understand how to use them to protect their personal information.
A recent survey from NordVPN illustrates this well, with usage of such software increasing by 6% between 2022 and 2023. In 42% of cases, users use them to protect their data.
However, the survey also shows that many people use free VPNs. This can be a problem if we want to protect our personal information.
In Canada, the proportion of people using a free VPN is 29%. Fortunately, there is an improvement between 2022 and 2023.
NordVPN conducted a survey to find out the proportion of people who use a free VPN. Photo credit: NordVPN
Is it a good idea to use a free VPN?
In technology, many people have an illogical reflex. Protecting our machines and our personal data is important to us, but we don't want to pay for it…
Do we do this with our car, our house and our possessions? No, we pay for insurance and equip ourselves with paid protection systems because these are proven solutions.
In IT, strangely enough, it's sometimes the exact opposite.
To save a few bucks (especially $5 per month on NordVPN), many people prefer to resort to free security software.
The problem is: If it's free, we are the product. And if we are the product, then we endanger certain things. In the vast majority of cases it will be our personal data!
This is the case with many free VPNs, which actually intercept our data in order to then resell it to advertisers or data collectors.
Not to mention the fraudulent VPNs that pollute the Internet and actually turn out to be infected with viruses.
In short: Why take this risk to save a few bucks? If we really care about our information and our online security, it is in our best interest to resort to a paid VPN.
Especially those like NordVPN, which offer a no-log policy (i.e. no recording of our browsing) and are audited for this purpose.