Three VPN myths that need to stop.

Myth 1: A VPN makes you anonymous

False. A VPN hides your IP address from the site you're visiting — but your VPN provider sees all your traffic. You've simply shifted trust from your ISP to your VPN provider.

If you're simultaneously logged into Google, Netflix or your Amazon account, those services know exactly who you are — they don't need your IP to identify you. Your behaviour, cookies, and browser fingerprint are far more revealing than an IP address.

True internet anonymity requires Tor, consistent behaviour (no logging into personal accounts), and operational security discipline that 99% of users don't maintain. A VPN alone is not and has never been an anonymity tool.

Myth 2: A VPN encrypts all internet traffic

Not all of it — and not entirely necessary either. A VPN encrypts only the tunnel between your device and the VPN server. What happens after that server — the connection between the VPN server and the site you're visiting — is not under your control.

The good news: most web traffic is already encrypted via HTTPS. In 2026, over 95% of websites use TLS. Your passwords, card details, and messages are encrypted by default in the browser, with or without a VPN.

What a VPN actually provides: hiding your real IP, concealing from your ISP which sites you visit, and protecting against eavesdropping on the local network — particularly useful on public or corporate Wi-Fi where you don't control the infrastructure.

Myth 3: A free VPN is good enough

This is the most dangerous myth. Free VPNs need a business model. When the service is free, you're often the product.

Academic studies (CSIRO 2016, ICSI 2019) showed that 38% of free Android VPNs contained malicious code, 72% included third-party trackers, and some injected JavaScript into users' HTTP traffic.

A reputable VPN — Mullvad, ProtonVPN, IVPN — costs between €3 and €10 per month. That's a transparent business model: you pay for a service, not with your data.

A VPN is a tool, not an invisibility cloak. Used correctly — on unsecured networks, with a trustworthy provider, without illusions about anonymity — it adds a real and measurable layer of protection. Misunderstood, it creates a false sense of security more dangerous than no protection at all.