I have read lots of reviews on Reddit and other sites about VPNBook–it doesn’t look like you guys like it. I don’t think that all free things are bad–look at most open-source software, such as Linux or OpenVPN–but when it comes to VPNs I think you guys are right, free is usually bad.
THAT BEING SAID…
Looking at their privacy policy says they only keep logs for a week. I don’t do anything illegal, I am not trying to avoid government censorship. But I also don’t want websites to track me, because I like my privacy, and I was horrified to see how many sites were tracking me after I started using Lightbeam for Firefox. Is a free VPN that is fast and reliable like VPNBook good for that? If I don’t do anything illegal, worth blackmailing for, etc., do you think it is worth it to use a VPN like VPNBook? If not, is there another way I can protect my privacy for free, preferably?
Thanks very much for any advice and comments!
I just want to point out something about your comparison to free and open source software.
When you release a piece of software you write yourself the cost does not increase dependant on the number of users who use the software. The costs are incurred in you developing it yes, but the cost doesn’t change if it’s downloaded by 1 person or 10 million people, you can just stick it up on github and have them deal with the costs of distribution or use bittorrent.
But when it comes to a VPN service there are ongoing costs that are directly proportional to the amount of users that there are using your resources.
Servers, bandwidth, power. These things cost money and they keep going up with the more users your VPN service has.
So the question is, how does VPNBook make the money required to pay for these servers? - I’ve never heard of the service before so I cannot answer that, but it is a question you should be asking before using it and other free services.
As the saying goes, if it’s free, you’re the product. And unless the “free” provider is being funded by some charitable organisation or user donations it’s usually true that your data is being exploited in some way to pay the bills.