A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a piece of software that’s main purpose is to protect its users by encrypting their data and masking their IP addresses. This hides their browsing activity, identity, and location, allowing for greater privacy and autonomy. This software is great for torrenting, accessing content in certain geo–restricted locations, and masking your IP address. However, VPNs are heavily marketed as essential for security and privacy due to big companies advertising it as something that you need to use in your everyday life. We will get into how VPNs are not as necessary as they are publicized.
Some of the legitimate uses of VPNs are to hide your identity by cloaking your IP address. This works by having your connection and all of the packets that you send to go through a tunnel, which then goes to your destination. It’s like putting on a mask and then going out in public—it hides your face, and people won’t be able to recognize you instantly. This can be used to bypass region-locked content such as Netflix’s library of content, which is catered to whatever region your IP address is from. You can also get cheap deals buying things in certain countries where online products can be less expensive in one country over the other. Alongside that, people living in restrictive or totalitarian countries can be able to access content outside of their nation’s internet diminution. All of these are very good use cases for a VPN, and would really be used whenever needed, not constantly. This is where the superfluous shilling of VPNs come into play.
Many VPN companies often over exaggerate the risks of not using their software. A very good example of this is NordVPN. Their modus operandi is that you’re constantly being watched or hacked by not using it—if you have a hint of knowledge about the internet and how it works, you know this is false. You can still safely surf the internet without a VPN, it’s fear-mongering to get you to purchase their subpar subscription for a VPN. Another company that does this is Surfshark. Oftentimes, they claim that VPNs offer 100% total anonymity and protection online. This is untruthful, as no average VPN will ever reach that level of anonymity. Malicious entities can still be able to access your personal data if you aren’t being careful. An honorable mention is CyberGhost. Oftentimes, they overhype the threat of hackers gaining access to your information and like to use uncommon scenarios—id est you are working on your laptop without any form of security and there just so happens to be a hyper-intelligent hacker-man that suddenly gets remote access to your system by magically being able to see all of the devices connected to a network—to get you to purchase their VPN out of fear that something along those lines could happen to you. This brings up another question—do you actually need a VPN?
The answer is simple: you don’t, in most cases. For average, every day users of the internet, simple HTTPS security already gets the job done. Since almost every website nowadays uses HTTPS, you’re already guaranteed to have top-tier security. The real things to be worried about online are scams, subtle ways that people can access your system (such as not downloading things from sketchy sources or from random people), and putting personal information on the internet. It’s a surefire fact that the things aforementioned are way more important than wasting ten bucks a month on some lousy VPN that barely works half of the time and logs all of your internet browsing data. Are VPN companies selling security—or just selling fear?
Works Cited
Smith, Adam. “NordVPN Ad Banned for Exaggerating Threat of Public Wi-Fi.” PCMAG, PCMag, May 2019, www.pcmag.com/news/nordvpn-ad-banned-for-exaggerating-threat-of-public-wi-fi. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
“VPN Testing Reveals Poor Privacy and Security Practices, Hyperbolic Claims.” Consumer Reports, www.consumerreports.org/vpn-services/vpn-testing-poor-privacy-security-hyperbolic-claims-a1103787639/.
Connor (PWire. “Debunking Surfshark, an “Independently Audited VPN” or Is It?” Medium, Private Wire Technologies, 14 Nov. 2019, medium.com/private-wire-technologies/something-smells-fishy-surfshark-vpn-a1c40ae8ebdc. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.