How to Choose a VPN Provider?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and most people use them to protect their privacy. The service can be used for a number of reasons. You may be able to gamble using a VPN, or you may be allowed access to restricted websites. You may be able to spam without being listed on spam registers, and you may be allowed access to streaming, sharing or websites that your country feels you should not be going onto. Here is a quick lesson in how to choose your VPN provider.

There is no easy answer

You have probably read articles about how to pick a website host and it says something such as “They don’t skim information from your website” or “They have adequate security.” They are good tips, but how does a user know for sure that the host service is not a big data mining company or if the host has any security at all? The same problems occur for VPN services. They may say that they have a confidential data retention policy, but how can you be sure?

The company “Hide My Ass” are supposed to protect the anonymity of clients, and yet they turned over the retained details of a hacking group to the USA government. This company is well known and touted the benefits of the confidentiality their service allows, and yet they turned over lots of private information to the government. How can you be sure that your VPN service is honest or keeps its word? You cannot!

Is there a reliable refund policy?

You can judge how reliable it is by two means. First, if it lasts for around 30 days then it is pretty reliable. It means that the company is not hungry for clients, which is always a good sign. A 30 days refund policy is a good sign that you may be alright with that company.

The second sign that they have a reliable refund policy is if there are no online complaints about them not refunding. People who failed to get a refund will (hopefully) go online and complain about it. If the company has been established a long time, then the chances of people logging their complaints online increases. If you see negative reviews about their refund policy then they are probably not very honest with their refund policy.

What is the company planning to do if the laws change?

There are few that will have such protocols in place, but there may be forums or question and answer sections that answer this question properly. If the laws change, then ideally you want the company to shift countries. Even if they do not candidly say what they will do if the laws change, check to see if they have protocols in place for giving out information or for if data is compromised. Something such as keeping no record of your home address may help to ease your concerns at least a little.

What do they do with your data?

This is a problem because they are going to tell you all the things you want to hear, but how can you be sure that they will keep their word. The “Hide My Ass” example earlier is just what happened when one “anonymity” provider was put under pressure by the government. If that company had not held on to the data they had, then they would not have had to break their customer’s trust.

Does the company say what it does with your data? Can they offer any assurances? Are there online reviews that contradict their statements? Just like finding a website host, you have to put a lot of trust in the things that the company says. Still, what choice do you have?

How many IP addresses does the company have?

This is important both for if you want to be a spammer and do not want to suffer problems with spammer IP registers, and it is a problem if you need to surf from a certain country. For example, you may want to surf from a British IP address so that you can play online gambling in online casinos. But, if the VPN does not have a British IP address, then you are out of luck. There are benefits to using IP addresses in a number of different countries, so the more that the VPN Company can offer you--the better.

One may say that so long as the company has an IP address in the country that matters to you, then that is all you need. This is true, but it is nice to have the option of lots of different IP addresses so that if you want to change your online activities then you can do it and keep the same VPN provider.

Author’s bio:

The guest post is written by Sonia Jackson from http://www.cool-essays.com. She helps you in writing essays and research papers on different topics. Feel free to approach.