VPNs are Internet services that promise greater privacy and security when browsing the network.
With paid and free versions, the services can be useful for those who value privacy when it comes to browsing, or are simply interested in an extra layer of security when using the Internet.
READ: How to manually configure and connect to a VPN on Android
However, the use of VPNs is also associated with loss of network speed, costs and, in some cases, unpleasant surprises when VPN providers are caught negotiating their users' data.
See below positive and negative points of using a VPN.
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1. Ensuring privacy
VPN diverts your network traffic and helps protect your privacy on the Internet Photo: Filipe Garret / dnetc
The great appeal of using a VPN is the idea of protecting your privacy.
You will start browsing the Internet in a more protected way and, in the view of the sites and services you visit, it would be as if you access the network from another place in the world.
This, therefore, helps you not to be the target of aggressive advertising, calculated based on your browsing habits.
In addition, VPN strengthens the level of protection of your data during browsing, making tracking your behavior within websites more difficult.
Another positive factor, especially for higher quality VPNs, is that they offer a layer of security protection.
The service can contribute to the prevention of malware attacks and other virtual pests on devices.
Good VPNs also have control centers that enable you to have a more accurate understanding of how your browsing is shown to the outside world.
Thus, the user has an idea of the volume of data he consumes and also of the speeds with which he browses when on the VPN.
VPNs can be free, like the one offered by Opera, but the risks are greater Photo: Divulgao / Opera
A good VPN service costs money.
There are providers that offer subscription plans for longer periods, but inevitably the cost of Internet access increases at some point.
The best paid plans available do not leave for less than R $ 20 per month.
There are free VPNs, but this relates to important issues regarding your privacy.
Free plans can use your data the same as you try to safeguard through the service as a source of income, marketing this information with advertisers.
2. Unpleasant surprises
In the previous point, we mentioned the problem regarding VPN services that use user data as a source of income.
This situation, more common on free platforms and of doubtful origin, can also occur with paid plans: the service provider's word is the only guarantee that your data will not be collected.
Therefore, it is very important to research if the VPN you are considering hiring has not been caught collecting information and if there is a commitment to completely destroy users' browsing data.
Even quality paid VPNs will impact the speed of your connection Photo: Divulgao / SurfEasy
Costs and risks related to the preservation of privacy can be carefully avoided, but the loss of connection speed is unavoidable.
A VPN, in practice, is an intermediary to all network traffic of your connection and that means that using it causes some loss of speed along the way.
Those with a low-speed Internet plan tend to feel the impact much more pronounced, especially in network upload speeds, which tend to be lower.
