The US government's new VPN guidance shows that internet restrictions were never about online safety

I've been a regular VPN user for a couple of years now. For me, it came down to the fact that the amount of data social media algorithms obviously had about me and my friends was genuinely disturbing. I did an incognito web search to look up a friend's health systems, and then old Uncle Facebook revealed he was spying on us like an absolute creep by giving me targeted ads that offer treatments for the associated conditions. It seems that governments and businesses have an insatiable appetite for our private data - and recent changes to laws show that they want even more, and all under the guise of protecting people (and usually children).

Don't get me wrong - I feel passionately about protecting kids online. Social media gives predators easy access to them, and the algorithms on all the platforms seem to have been designed to turn everyone into political extremists. But when the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) tells people, "Do not use a personal virtual private network," I can't help but think that either it doesn't really understand VPNs, or this measure is being introduced as an underhanded way of keeping tabs on people.

The full explanation for this is "Personal VPNs simply shift residual risks from the internet service provider (ISP) to the VPN provider, often increasing the attack surface. Many free and commercial VPN providers have questionable security and privacy policies." Which, like all the best deceptions, has a whiff of truth to it. As our friend, Christian, has often warned us, there are a lot of dodgy free VPNs out there, and using one of them would pose a real threat to your online safety.

But the best VPNs aren't like that. Many of them undergo regular third-party audits to confirm that they are doing the best they can to protect customers' data. By holding themselves to account in this way, they can identify potential weaknesses in their systems and then ensure that they keep their software protected from new and emerging online threats. Ruling them all out is like saying, "Drinking water is bad for you; someone got typhoid from doing that once."

This guidance was primarily created for professionals (especially those in government), and you might think, "Oh, well, why would you need a VPN at work unless you're up to no good?" but if you do work on your phone and connect to public WiFi, you should definitely use a VPN, as those connection points leave you vulnerable to any malicious people on the network who go out of their way to steal data and credentials.

Suspiciously, I can't find any reference to avoiding public connections in the new guidance. It seems awfully fishy that CISA is worried about people using VPNs, but not about them connecting to free WiFi. In fact, it's more than fishy - it's downright concerning and suggests to me that the government has never really been worried about people's safety online, and instead is motivated by wanting to increase surveillance.

In these times, when political tensions are high, and seemingly harmless details about an individual could be used to angle them as an extremist, the value of a VPN is higher than ever. If you want to make sure that Uncle Facebook and the like aren't watching over your shoulder every second you spend online, NordVPN is our chosen partner and we recommend it as a safe and reliable service for protecting your data.