These 20 free VPNs with 700 million downloads all have the same problem

I'm of the mind that you can't always trust free VPNs, and now researchers have found that 20 apparently unconnected free VPN apps on Google Play are seemingly all built on the back of the same code. If this wasn't strange enough, they reportedly all have the same vulnerability in their code, which means that users' private data is not securely encrypted.

When you use a VPN, you place trust in the software and the developer to safely encrypt your data, keeping any payment and personal data separate from your online activity. This is what all of the providers in our list of the best VPN services do, whether you use them for gaming, streaming, or anything else. The difference is that those VPNs are paid for and submit themselves to rigorous checks. If they didn't, they'd lose a competitive edge, and customers would choose a different service.

The study was carried out by security researchers from Bowdoin College and Arizona State University in collaboration with Breakingpoint Bad (a technical security non-profit), and the 20 VPNs they investigated are all freely available on Google Play. Between them, they have amassed over 700 million downloads, which means these ad-supported VPNs are presumably making a good chunk of money while arguably not offering much value to their users.

Apps like Tetra VPN, VPN PotatoVPN, and VPN Proxy Master are among these suspicious VPNs. Interestingly, searching for one of these on Google Play brings up some of the others in the results, which implies that Google may be aware of some connection between them - though it may just be the algorithm recognising that they're all free VPNs. The proliferation of these free VPN apps also leaves potential users thinking that they have some sort of choice between them, when in fact it appears the apps are offering a largely identical experience - at least when you dig beneath the superficial differences in user interface.

As well as being no replacement for a gaming VPN, these apps share potential exploits, which could result in your supposedly private and encrypted data being accessed. The biggest concern comes from flaws in the code of these apps that enable the encryption to be broken, exposing private data. The apps are also believed to have links to China, which is not a country renowned for privacy-friendly laws.

Here's a full list of the VPNs featured in this study:

• Turbo VPN
• Turbo VPN Lite
• VPN Monster
• VPN Proxy Master
• VPN Proxy Master - Lite
• Snap VPN
• Robot VPN
• SuperNet VPN
• Global VPN
• XY VPN
• Super Z VPN
• Touch VPN
• VPN ProMaster
• 3X VPN
• VPN lnf
• Melon VPN
• X-VPN
• Fast Potato VPN
• Tetra VPN
• VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy
• Secure VPN Safer Internet

It should go without saying that these services are no replacement for well-known, reliable VPNs like Proton VPN, SurfShark, Cyberghost, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN. Our guide on how to use a VPN for gaming will also come in handy if you're a VPN newbie.