Proton VPN is one of the best VPNs, and definitely safe. (Sam Chapman for Engadget)
Virtual private networks (VPNs) have been household technology for a while now, but there's still a lot of uncertainty around them. This is partly due to the fact that they can conceal online activity that local or national governments deem illegal — up to and including, say, circumventing ID checks for age verification. Consumers aren't helped by the sheer amount of duds sold in app stores right next to the best VPNs, especially when they're purposefully exploiting moments that have people rushing to shore up their online anonymity. If you've almost decided to start using a VPN, you may be wondering if the services you're looking at are actually safe.
Unfortunately, the answer is a hard "it depends." VPNs are technology that can work well or poorly, just like they can be used for good or evil. There's nothing intrinsically dangerous about using a VPN — whether or not one is safe comes down to who built it and how they're running it. The good news is that there are easy ways to tell whether you’re using one of the good ones.
The question "Are VPNs really safe?" can also mean something else — "Is using a VPN enough to keep me safe online?" I'll get into that too, but to spoil the ending: VPNs are important security tools, but they aren't enough to protect against all digital threats by themselves. Also, to be clear, I'm talking here about commercial VPNs like Proton VPN and ExpressVPN, not commercial VPNs like NordLayer or Cisco AnyConnect.
What makes a VPN unsafe?
There are two main things that can make me call a VPN unsafe: negligence and malice. A negligent VPN doesn't protect against the dangers it's supposed to ward off, leaving you more exposed than if you weren't using a VPN at all. A malicious VPN is designed to make you less safe so the people behind it can profit.
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Some ways a negligent VPN might endanger its users:
Using outdated protocols with cracked encryption, like PPTP, or homebrewed protocols with insufficient security. A weakly secured protocol might expose your search activity.
Allowing leaks by using public DNS servers rather than setting up their own system to resolve requests. This risks revealing what websites the VPN's users are visiting.
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