Essential Truths You Must Know About Using VPNs

What is VPN?

VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a digital service that hides your Internet Protocol (IP) address, allowing anonymous browsing because the IP cannot be linked to your traffic.

Virtual – the service exists purely in software; no dedicated hardware or cables are required.

Private – the connection is encrypted, preventing governments, ISPs, network attackers, and other observers from seeing the clear‑text traffic.

Network – a secure tunnel is created between the user device, the VPN server, and the Internet.

Is using a VPN illegal?

As of 2022, the following jurisdictions have declared VPN use illegal: China, Iraq, North Korea, Russia, Turkey, Belarus, and Turkmenistan. Some regions partially block VPNs, including Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman.

In most other countries – for example the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand – VPNs are fully legal, provided they are not used to commit crimes or to conceal illegal activity from law enforcement.

VPN does not protect privacy

Many users assume that a VPN hides their identity and protects privacy. The article clarifies two points:

The original purpose of VPNs is not privacy protection; they are designed to hide the IP address from third parties, not from the VPN provider.

The VPN provider can see all traffic that passes through its servers. Free VPN services often collect user data for monetisation.

VPN is a proxy

VPN technology originated in 1996 to create temporary, secure links over public networks for accessing restricted corporate resources – essentially a remote‑office proxy.

Because the client and server communicate through an encrypted channel, data cannot be intercepted or altered in transit, which is critical for protecting corporate secrets.

When a user accesses a third‑party service through a VPN, the workflow is:

The user’s request is sent to the VPN server.

The VPN server forwards the request to the target network (e.g., a corporate intranet or an external website).

The target returns the response to the VPN server, which then relays it back to the user.

This proxy role means the user must trust the VPN provider; from the provider’s perspective the user has no privacy.

Choosing a trustworthy VPN provider

For legitimate use cases, self‑hosting a VPN server is permissible in many jurisdictions if the operator registers the service in advance. When self‑hosting is not feasible, selecting a reputable provider that does not harvest user data is essential.

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