You might have learned about privacy recently and seen many websites recommending VPN as the solution which helps you encrypt, hide and be safe from prying eyes, your ISP, and even the Government.
VPN as the holy grail of internet and network privacy! NOPE!
Many of our friends and business associates ask, 'what is the best VPN?' Let's get things into perspective! A VPN can hide your IP so that your ISP is supposedly unable to see your traffic nor slow your speed when you stream etc. They shouldn't do that anyway! But they do!
This fact out of the way, let's say you want to watch a Bundesliga Game and need a German IP address, or a Premier League game and need a UK IP address. You want to watch Netflix USA? No problem .........this is what VPN’s do really well. In the Netflix case maybe not so well any more as many IPs from VPNs are known by now and blocked, depending, of course, on your VPN provider.
BUT If you want privacy use TOR!
A VPN is a one-hop, single point of failure. Your VPN provider can see all of your activity. So can NSA. Tor mixes traffic in a better way across a wider network. Even if the first or last hop is bad, they don't know what you're doing (entrance node) or where you are (exit node).
I have tried multiple VPN providers over the years, some even have trackers, there are simply no words for that. However, three of them stand out when it comes to privacy, and here they are:
ProtonVPN is located in Switzerland, which must be considered 'cooperative' when it comes to data requests. The app has zero trackers which is a good start, plus only 6 permissions are requested. ProtonVPN is owned by the same company as ProtonMail, a privacy-orientated email provider.
They also offer TOR servers and secure Multi-hops. The TOR option is nice as you can access .onion websites, however, we still strongly recommend using the official TOR browser to do so.
Overall, ProtonVPN is a great option and has even some free VPN servers.
ProtonVPN has been audited, Additionally, we did not experience trackers on the app or the website.
Open-SourceRouterAccepts BitcoinmacOSLinuxWindowsF-Droid
iVPN Is located in Gibraltar which although not a "Fourteen Eye Country"; is, however, under the jurisdiction of the UK which of course is! iVPN has been audited, and that confirmed the no-logging claim, plus there are no trackers on their app.
Multi-hop is supported, and we are glad to say that WireGuard even allows multi-hop. iVPN has an option to reset the key every 7 days, therefore giving you a different encryption and a little more protection than the usual 'out of the box' providers. They offer an Anti-Tracker blocklist within the app. And you can even go real hard core and block Google and Facebook! Additionally, you can set your own DNS if you like.
iVPN allows you to pay with Bitcoin and with XMR (Monero). That is great, as it's as private as it gets.
iVPN also does not request an email during signup, all you get is a generated iVpn login. Great effort and surely the way to go for an VPN provider.
No trackers have been sighted in the app or the website.
Independently Audited:
https://www.ivpn.net/blog/ivpn-apps-security-audit-2022-concluded/
https://cure53.de/audit-report_ivpn.pdf
https://cure53.de/summary-report_ivpn_2019.pdf
https://www.ivpn.net/blog/independent-security-audit-concluded
Open-SourceAccepts BitcoinAccepts XMRmacOSLinuxWindowsF-DroidHighly Recommended
Mullvad has been around since 2009 and is located in Sweden, which is unforgivably a "Fourteen Eyes Country".
Mullvad offers WireGuard and OpenVPN, and the setup can easily be done within the app or with the official WireGuard software. Multi-hop is supported and not only via OpenVPN with a Shadowsocks exit node, but also within a two hop WireGuard connection, within the official WireGuard app!
Mullvad, as with iVPN, does not need your email, does payments via Bitcoin and XMR and you get a generated long number which acts as your account username.
Just like the other two recommendations, both the apps and the website do not have any trackers installed.
Mullvad has also been audited by Cure53 and Assured AB with the report published at cure53.de
The security researchers concluded:
...Cure53 and Assured AB are happy with the results of the audit and the software leaves an overall positive impression. With security dedication of the in-house team at the Mullvad VPN compound, the testers have no doubts about the project being on the right track from a security standpoint.
Independently Audited:
https://cure53.de/pentest-report_mullvad_v2.pdf
https://cure53.de/pentest-report_mullvad_2020_v2.pdf
https://cure53.de/pentest-report_mullvad_2021_v1.pdf
Open-SourceAccepts BitcoinAccepts XMRmacOSLinuxWindowsF-DroidTor .onionRouter
If you want an easy and effective 'out of the box' solution, then Mullvad and iVPN are the two best options out there.
If you want to watch Netflix in the US or a football game which is only reachable within a specific country whilst you are in another, then Mullvad or iVPN are also great options, the same goes when you are on public Wi-Fi.