In the last few years, there has been a flow of public VPN services in the market. But there are now a lot of myths and misinformation about it is floating in the market.

Sadly, this misinformation is being propagated by the company itself and knowing unknowingly by tech YouTubers who frequently gets sponsored by the Public Providers.

Here I am listing a few of the things these services can offer and some which these can’t

Privacy

Often a VPN is touted as a one-stop for all your digital privacy goals. But in my opinion, when you think of privacy, you should also ask privacy from whom. From your ISP? Yes. From your National Security agencies? Maybe not.

Privacy is more of a practice than a product. Suppose you open your personal social and email accounts over a VPN network and the same on your local network. In that case, it can be easily tracked that both IPs belong to the same person. Also, your VPN provider will always know your real IP address. So in case some could hack, buy, or force them to hand over the data, it is out with all of your browsing histories.

Often VPN providers claim to have a no-log policy, but you just have to believe their words until something happens.

Internet Speed

This claim is somewhat valid but not wholly. In a sporadic case, your local ISP has very bad routing, which causes many bad hops. In that case, a VPN can help improve your internet browsing experience. But, In the vast majority of cases, you are expected to get a hit on internet speed in lieu of some degree of privacy.

Wide variety of content access

This is the most common use case of a public VPN service. You want to watch a youtube video or Netflix show that isn’t available in your location. You can easily circumvent it. Also, it is helpful for those who people live out of the country for business purposes. But, when they leave, they lose access to many local online services that they may want to use while abroad, such as Hotstar, which broadcasts most Indian sports at affordable rates. But, you can’t access it while being abroad usually.

Final Thoughts

It’s good to have one, but you should know what you have.