What you should know about VPN apps

Encryption, anonymity, spy protection and no more country blocks: VPN apps for smartphones make a lot of promises. Can the apps and their providers comply with them?

Advertising paints a pink picture of VPN apps. With the simple installation of an application, internet access with a smartphone should suddenly be safe and anonymous. Even access to online services that are not approved for your own country should be possible. The apps are mostly free – in the basic version. Additional functions are available for a fee.

This is how a VPN works

Once the app for a virtual private network (VPN) has been installed and configured, the smartphone no longer connects directly to the desired destination on the network, explains Miriam Ruhenstroth from the “Mobilsicher.de” portal. Instead, an encrypted connection, also known as a tunnel, is first established to a server of the VPN provider. From there, the data traffic is routed to its destination – and back to your own device via the tunnel.

This is particularly useful when it is not clear how secure your own connection to the network is, for example in open WLAN networks in cafés, when travelling, at airports or in hotels. If you enter sensitive data on websites, third parties could intercept them in the worst case. VPN apps prevent this. If the data traffic is sent via the encrypted tunnel, nobody can read it.

Also read: Activate VPN on your smartphone

VPN: Fake locations, bypass blocks

In addition to this security aspect, VPN apps have another advantage. Depending on the provider, you can connect to servers all over the world. For example, it can be pretended that the network traffic comes from the USA. If you call up such well-known streaming services, the film catalog suddenly looks completely different, and some US series can be seen earlier. Geo-blockades can also be circumvented with a VPN and, for example, in China the apps from Google can be used, which are actually blocked there.

Many users are now familiar with VPNs from work. From home or any other location, you can log into the network environment at the company location using VPN access. Applications and data are not only available in the office, but also at any location with Internet access – and are still protected from prying eyes.

But the beautiful VPN world is not completely problem-free. If you go online via a tunnel, some apps don’t play along. Some messengers then have problems contacting their network. Some services from Google or online shops also don’t work well with an active VPN app, says Miriam Ruhenstroth. And video streaming services are playing a cat and mouse game with VPN providers: Some bypass the region blocking for certain content with the help of new servers. And the others block the IP addresses of these servers again.

Also read: These well-known websites are blocked in other countries

Disadvantage: Less speed over VPN

Another problem is the connection speed. With many providers, the connection has a long signal runtime due to the detour via the provider’s server. It takes time for pages to open and content to land on the screen. Sending e-mails via VPN also occasionally gets stuck.

Many VPN providers also advertise anonymity. But you can’t be really anonymous on the internet even with the VPN switched on, explains Ruhenstroth. Individual browsers or devices can still be identified in many cases. And if you enter data on a website beyond the protected tunnel – for example when logging on to an e-mail portal – the anonymity is already gone.

In the end you have to trust

And then there is the question of trustworthiness. If you route your data traffic via the servers of a VPN provider, you ultimately have to rely on them not reading it. All providers promise that. The average consumer cannot definitively prove this. “There are a lot of very dodgy VPN services,” warns Ruhenstroth.

“The VPN providers themselves could monitor the data traffic and create log files about the connections,” points out Kevin Wittek from the Institute for Internet Security (Ifis) in Gelsenkirchen. “Unfortunately, precise control of the provider is almost impossible.” In any case, you should keep your hands off VPN providers who offer dubious free connections.

Almost all providers also offer fixed-term contracts, which are always cheaper than months booked individually. Patient comparisons are worthwhile for bargain hunters: Almost all services have discount campaigns from time to time. Depending on the term, monthly subscription prices of between three and six euros are realistic. Otherwise, tests that can be found regularly in specialist journals and portals help with the selection.

Vendor location is also a factor. Data protection conditions and cooperation with authorities in Europe differ greatly from those in the USA, and from those of many Asian countries anyway. For this reason, Ruhenstroth recommends using European providers. In the end, however, the following applies: “You always have to trust to a certain extent.”

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