The Dangers of using VPN

VPN (Virtual Private Networks) are privately run encrypted proxy services that protect privacy by masking the IP address of their users replacing the original IP address with a different one that can be located anywhere in the World.

Besides hiding your IP from server logs in the websites you visit, a VPN service protects you from your Internet Service Provider spying on you, in countries like the United Kingdom where the law requires Internet Service Providers to keep a record of what URLs a user has visited , they will be unable to see anything if you are behind an encrypted VPN tunnel. A VPN service will also bypass censorship, if your Internet Service Provider is filtering websites, like they do in Russia, by using a VPN, the filter is rendered useless. Another use of VPNs is to access georestricted content, online TV and music only available to certain countries, can be accessed by faking your country location with a VPN.

IP logging

Almost every VPN provider claims to either keep no logs, or to keep logs for only a very short time. This is what the VPN operators say, but there is no way to determine the truthfulness of their claims. Should they not be telling the truth, then any BoyLover using such a VPN may be exposing himself to serious risks.

There is no method to determine what provider is telling the truth about logs and which one isn´t, you must rely on open source information to pick the best VPN provider, try to pick a company with a record of not handing over logs to law enforcement , this confirms that it is truly impossible for them to facilitate something they haven´t got.

VPN as "honeypots"

Some of the adversaries of BoyLove (for example, entities within governments such as the NSA in the U.S.) have virtually unlimited funds at their disposal, and can operate in complete secrecy. As VPN are often used for illegal purposes, these entities have an interest in those who are using VPN, and it is entirely reasonable to assume that some VPN have been deliberately set up to monitor illegal activity.

Payments for VPN services

There are free VPN providers but they cost money to run and if you are not paying for it then somebody else is, they might be selling your data to recoup the cost of running the service, or display advertisements while you surf the Internet, another way free VPNs can exist is by getting you through the door with a restricted free offer, limited bandwidth and low speed and push their paid services all the time in the hope what some of the free users will end up paying.

A VPN service is usually affordable even for low income people, if you use it daily, it is worthwhile to pay for it. A downside of paying for a VPN is that it can be linked to your account, but not all VPN providers link payments with accounts, some of them allow you to use cryptocurrencies and others remove identifying information from the payment records, it is possible to sign up for a VPN service without giving away your name and address, it will depend on the provider, but nearly always you will need an email address to receive the username and password, make sure to sign up using an E-mail provider that respects your privacy.

Generally speaking, if the VPN provider does not keep logs of your activities, it wouldn´t matter if the company has your name address and payment details since they can not be linked to any Internet browsing, but it is always a good idea to reduce personal data to a bare minimum so that if something goes wrong, like a VPN being hacked or a server stolen, the data will not be compromised and illegally stolen.

See also

• Tor
• Anonymity
• Browser security
• Proxy and VPN