In the world we live in today, privacy is becoming an increasingly fundamental topic. With large multinationals being routinely called out for compromising user data and fears that national governments are spying on their own residents, more people are taking steps to protect their internet privacy.
For instance, 95% of Americans express concerns over how companies use their data. They believe they are increasingly losing control over how their information is collected and what it is being used for. As a result, another 61% of people indicate that they would like to take steps to protect their privacy.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have especially gained prominence as a way to assure privacy and protect users. But the situation with these pieces of software is often unclear due to how they may be used and what might be done with them. As a result, there is a bit of confusion as to exactly what can and cannot be done with a VPN.
Can VPNs be used to access nationally censored content? If youâre in America, are there restrictions on how you can use VPNs? In what countries are VPNs illegal? This article explains all you should know.
Legal liability arising out of VPN use
One thing you may wonder is if VPNs guarantee you anonymity on the internet, how can anybody trace the illegal activity to you?
You should know that surfing the internet with a VPN does not guarantee you total anonymity. Most VPN providers maintain some kind of log of user activity. Even if they say otherwise, most do this.
The reason for logging what you do while under the protection of their privacy shield is to crack down on illegal activities. Many of these providers are required either by local regulations or by the expediency of being able to provide assistance to law enforcement, to track what you do with their product.
Besides, VPNs alone do not guarantee you total anonymity on the internet. A lot of information about you can be revealed to third parties through your browser, for instance.
Apps and websites may collect a lot of information about you in order to improve the accuracy of their targeted advertising. Your mail provider, location data and tens to hundreds of other little snippets of your internet presence can be used to pierce the cloud of anonymity that your VPN provides.
So, while you think you are shielded from scrutiny, the opposite may be the case. This is why it is important to be totally above board as you enjoy the relative privacy provided by a VPN.
Which VPN provider should I use?
Currently, we recommend NordVPN because it offers a fast no data-limit connection for a very competitive price. The company is based in Panama and doesn’t log your connections. You can use up to 6 devices concurrently and can choose from 5000+ VPN servers in over 60 countries. It is also very easy to set-up and use.
Conclusion
In sum, whether VPNs will be legal for you or not depends on where you live and what you do with it. If youâre in a country that does not prohibit or sanction VPN use, then youâre good to go. But remember that VPNs are only allowed for involvement in legal activities.
Keep this in mind and you can fully enjoy the privacy protection and anonymity provided by a VPN.
Legal restrictions on use of VPNs
While VPNs are not illegal in most countries, there are legal restrictions to what you can do with VPNs. Due to the advantage of anonymity that the software provides, people may be tempted to engage in illegal activity on this basis.
Although statistics indicate that a majority of people use VPNs to access entertainment content (51%), there is still a large number that use it for questionable or outright illegal purposes. For instance, 12% of VPN users admit that they use the software to access the dark web and India was the region with the most users of this category.
You are not allowed to engage in illegal activity when using a VPN. As a rule, whatever would be illegal without a VPN will still be illegal while youâre using a VPN. Some of the activities that you should not engage in with a VPN include:
Illegal file sharing
Hacking
Cyber stalking
Cyber libel
Gaining illegal access to other computers or networks
IP spoofing
Intellectual property violations
Doing any of these things with the aid of a VPN is illegal under US and Philippines law. Again, the simple rule of thumb is: if it would be illegal without a VPN, it most likely is still illegal using a VPN.
Legal liability arising out of VPN use
One thing you may wonder is if VPNs guarantee you anonymity on the internet, how can anybody trace the illegal activity to you?
You should know that surfing the internet with a VPN does not guarantee you total anonymity. Most VPN providers maintain some kind of log of user activity. Even if they say otherwise, most do this.
The reason for logging what you do while under the protection of their privacy shield is to crack down on illegal activities. Many of these providers are required either by local regulations or by the expediency of being able to provide assistance to law enforcement, to track what you do with their product.
Besides, VPNs alone do not guarantee you total anonymity on the internet. A lot of information about you can be revealed to third parties through your browser, for instance.
Apps and websites may collect a lot of information about you in order to improve the accuracy of their targeted advertising. Your mail provider, location data and tens to hundreds of other little snippets of your internet presence can be used to pierce the cloud of anonymity that your VPN provides.
So, while you think you are shielded from scrutiny, the opposite may be the case. This is why it is important to be totally above board as you enjoy the relative privacy provided by a VPN.
Which VPN provider should I use?
Currently, we recommend NordVPN because it offers a fast no data-limit connection for a very competitive price. The company is based in Panama and doesn’t log your connections. You can use up to 6 devices concurrently and can choose from 5000+ VPN servers in over 60 countries. It is also very easy to set-up and use.
Conclusion
In sum, whether VPNs will be legal for you or not depends on where you live and what you do with it. If youâre in a country that does not prohibit or sanction VPN use, then youâre good to go. But remember that VPNs are only allowed for involvement in legal activities.
Keep this in mind and you can fully enjoy the privacy protection and anonymity provided by a VPN.
Where is it illegal to use VPNs?
There are several countries around the world where there is either an outright ban on the use of VPNs or severe regulation of this use. While these countries are no more than a handful, it is important to know them, especially if you will be traveling there anytime soon. These countries include:
Belarus
China
Iraq
Oman
North Korea
Russia
Turkey
UAE
In these countries, being caught using a VPN may attract criminal sanction consisting of fines or even jail term. In China for instance, the government enforce something called âDeep Packet Inspectionâ to detect and block VPNs. People who use VPNs and are caught may have their cell phones blocked by law enforcement. They may also be fined for such use.
What happens if youâre a foreign visitor in one of these countries and have a VPN enabled on your phone? Can you be prosecuted or punished for using a VPN? Again, the straight answer is it depends on the exact provisions of local law.
The law may require that every person in the territory of the country abide by the prohibition of VPN use. But in many cases, foreign visitors are not subject to these laws. To be safe however, if you have a VPN enabled on your devices, disable it before traveling then seek local advice to understand if VPN use is allowed.
Legal restrictions on use of VPNs
While VPNs are not illegal in most countries, there are legal restrictions to what you can do with VPNs. Due to the advantage of anonymity that the software provides, people may be tempted to engage in illegal activity on this basis.
Although statistics indicate that a majority of people use VPNs to access entertainment content (51%), there is still a large number that use it for questionable or outright illegal purposes. For instance, 12% of VPN users admit that they use the software to access the dark web and India was the region with the most users of this category.
You are not allowed to engage in illegal activity when using a VPN. As a rule, whatever would be illegal without a VPN will still be illegal while youâre using a VPN. Some of the activities that you should not engage in with a VPN include:
Illegal file sharing
Hacking
Cyber stalking
Cyber libel
Gaining illegal access to other computers or networks
IP spoofing
Intellectual property violations
Doing any of these things with the aid of a VPN is illegal under US and Philippines law. Again, the simple rule of thumb is: if it would be illegal without a VPN, it most likely is still illegal using a VPN.
Legal liability arising out of VPN use
One thing you may wonder is if VPNs guarantee you anonymity on the internet, how can anybody trace the illegal activity to you?
You should know that surfing the internet with a VPN does not guarantee you total anonymity. Most VPN providers maintain some kind of log of user activity. Even if they say otherwise, most do this.
The reason for logging what you do while under the protection of their privacy shield is to crack down on illegal activities. Many of these providers are required either by local regulations or by the expediency of being able to provide assistance to law enforcement, to track what you do with their product.
Besides, VPNs alone do not guarantee you total anonymity on the internet. A lot of information about you can be revealed to third parties through your browser, for instance.
Apps and websites may collect a lot of information about you in order to improve the accuracy of their targeted advertising. Your mail provider, location data and tens to hundreds of other little snippets of your internet presence can be used to pierce the cloud of anonymity that your VPN provides.
So, while you think you are shielded from scrutiny, the opposite may be the case. This is why it is important to be totally above board as you enjoy the relative privacy provided by a VPN.
Which VPN provider should I use?
Currently, we recommend NordVPN because it offers a fast no data-limit connection for a very competitive price. The company is based in Panama and doesn’t log your connections. You can use up to 6 devices concurrently and can choose from 5000+ VPN servers in over 60 countries. It is also very easy to set-up and use.
Conclusion
In sum, whether VPNs will be legal for you or not depends on where you live and what you do with it. If youâre in a country that does not prohibit or sanction VPN use, then youâre good to go. But remember that VPNs are only allowed for involvement in legal activities.
Keep this in mind and you can fully enjoy the privacy protection and anonymity provided by a VPN.
Are VPNs legal?
The straight answer is: it depends on where you live. In the US and several other countries including the Philippines, VPNs are perfectly legal to use. However, this also depends on how you use it.
The concern with VPNs, and questions over whether they are legal or not, largely stem from how they work.
A VPN acts as shield that protects the activity of users on the internet and prevents them from being tracked or their private data from being stolen. Ordinarily, internet-going devices access the world wide web through an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
To facilitate your access to the internet, the ISP labels your device with a unique IP address. However, the downside to this is that the ISP can see everything you do on the web since it has access to your internet activity through your IP address.
Worse, just as the ISP can see everything you do, hackers and intruders will similarly have no trouble with logging your IP and following you all over the internet. This may compromise your personal information and may expose you to identity theft, loss of property or worse.
However, by connecting to a VPN, users are able to avoid the consequence of otherwise âpublicâ internet access.
A VPN works by routing your computerâs internet connection through a server that is located elsewhere. This means that when you are surfing the internet, no one sees your unique IP, and as a result, will be unable to track you.
The downside to this is that people may take the opportunity of anonymous internet access to either do things that are illegal or take actions that are not consistent with national policy. It is for the second reason that VPN use is either heavily restricted or banned outright in some countries.
Where is it illegal to use VPNs?
There are several countries around the world where there is either an outright ban on the use of VPNs or severe regulation of this use. While these countries are no more than a handful, it is important to know them, especially if you will be traveling there anytime soon. These countries include:
Belarus
China
Iraq
Oman
North Korea
Russia
Turkey
UAE
In these countries, being caught using a VPN may attract criminal sanction consisting of fines or even jail term. In China for instance, the government enforce something called âDeep Packet Inspectionâ to detect and block VPNs. People who use VPNs and are caught may have their cell phones blocked by law enforcement. They may also be fined for such use.
What happens if youâre a foreign visitor in one of these countries and have a VPN enabled on your phone? Can you be prosecuted or punished for using a VPN? Again, the straight answer is it depends on the exact provisions of local law.
The law may require that every person in the territory of the country abide by the prohibition of VPN use. But in many cases, foreign visitors are not subject to these laws. To be safe however, if you have a VPN enabled on your devices, disable it before traveling then seek local advice to understand if VPN use is allowed.
Legal restrictions on use of VPNs
While VPNs are not illegal in most countries, there are legal restrictions to what you can do with VPNs. Due to the advantage of anonymity that the software provides, people may be tempted to engage in illegal activity on this basis.
Although statistics indicate that a majority of people use VPNs to access entertainment content (51%), there is still a large number that use it for questionable or outright illegal purposes. For instance, 12% of VPN users admit that they use the software to access the dark web and India was the region with the most users of this category.
You are not allowed to engage in illegal activity when using a VPN. As a rule, whatever would be illegal without a VPN will still be illegal while youâre using a VPN. Some of the activities that you should not engage in with a VPN include:
Illegal file sharing
Hacking
Cyber stalking
Cyber libel
Gaining illegal access to other computers or networks
IP spoofing
Intellectual property violations
Doing any of these things with the aid of a VPN is illegal under US and Philippines law. Again, the simple rule of thumb is: if it would be illegal without a VPN, it most likely is still illegal using a VPN.
Legal liability arising out of VPN use
One thing you may wonder is if VPNs guarantee you anonymity on the internet, how can anybody trace the illegal activity to you?
You should know that surfing the internet with a VPN does not guarantee you total anonymity. Most VPN providers maintain some kind of log of user activity. Even if they say otherwise, most do this.
The reason for logging what you do while under the protection of their privacy shield is to crack down on illegal activities. Many of these providers are required either by local regulations or by the expediency of being able to provide assistance to law enforcement, to track what you do with their product.
Besides, VPNs alone do not guarantee you total anonymity on the internet. A lot of information about you can be revealed to third parties through your browser, for instance.
Apps and websites may collect a lot of information about you in order to improve the accuracy of their targeted advertising. Your mail provider, location data and tens to hundreds of other little snippets of your internet presence can be used to pierce the cloud of anonymity that your VPN provides.
So, while you think you are shielded from scrutiny, the opposite may be the case. This is why it is important to be totally above board as you enjoy the relative privacy provided by a VPN.
Which VPN provider should I use?
Currently, we recommend NordVPN because it offers a fast no data-limit connection for a very competitive price. The company is based in Panama and doesn’t log your connections. You can use up to 6 devices concurrently and can choose from 5000+ VPN servers in over 60 countries. It is also very easy to set-up and use.
Conclusion
In sum, whether VPNs will be legal for you or not depends on where you live and what you do with it. If youâre in a country that does not prohibit or sanction VPN use, then youâre good to go. But remember that VPNs are only allowed for involvement in legal activities.
Keep this in mind and you can fully enjoy the privacy protection and anonymity provided by a VPN.
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