VPN PRIVACY RISKS

VPN PRIVACY RISKS While VPN companies market themselves as privacy tools, using one essentially shifts who can see your traffic, instead of your Internet Service Provider (ISP) seeing your browsing, the VPN provider does. This means:

If the VPN is dishonest or poorly managed, they can log your activity, track your location, inject ads, or sell your data. Some “free” VPNs have been caught doing exactly that — because running a VPN costs money, and “free” often means your data is the product. Even paid VPNs aren’t immune — there have been cases where companies advertised no-logs-policies but later handed over user data to governments or hackers after breaches. Jurisdiction matters – if a VPN company is based in a country with strict data retention laws or heavy surveillance, they may be legally compelled to collect and share data.

The protection a VPN gives you is only as good as:

Their logging policy (and whether it’s actually true)
Their jurisdiction (where they’re legally registered)
Their technical implementation (encryption strength, server security, independent audits)

A trustworthy VPN typically:

Has a clear, audited “no logs” policy
Is based in a privacy-friendly jurisdiction (e.g., not in the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance)
Has undergone independent security audits
Publishes transparency reports

A VPN can be a shield or a spy, depending on the provider.
You’re basically asking, “Do I trust this company more than my ISP?”

The Onavo Case: Privacy App Turned Spy Tool

Facebook did transform a so-called “privacy” tool into a powerful surveillance instrument rather than a protector of user data. In 2013, Facebook acquired Onavo Protect, a VPN marketed to protect users and save mobile data. But in reality, it routed users’ internet activity through Facebook-owned servers, giving them visibility into every app and website they used. Facebook used that data to monitor competing apps—like Snapchat—helping the company identify rising threats and make strategic moves such as acquisitions or feature cloning.

Internal projects like “Project Ghostbusters” even enabled Facebook to intercept encrypted traffic via man-in-the-middle tactics. When Apple banned Onavo in 2018, Facebook shifted to “Facebook Research”, paying users (including teens) to install an app that harvested even more data—web usage, messages, location—until Apple revoked Facebook’s developer privileges. In short: what was marketed as privacy tech was effectively a covert surveillance system.