You may have seen the multitude of advertisements everywhere from VPN companies spouting off claims of network anonymity and virtual asylum. I'm here today to tell you plain and simple that these services generally do nothing but slow down your internet speed while simultaneously harming your overall personal cyber security.
Starting with the safety of your personal data, seeing as how you probably value this if you're considering using a VPN. Almost all name brand VPNs claim to not log your data while using the product, but you can bet their cloud providers and ISPs servicing them probably are. Like many products that have built over the years, VPNs are great when you look at their intended functionality, which is to bridge two remote sites together or to allow an individual to securly connect to a different network. The whole point it to shift your connection from a network of lower trust to a network of higher trust.
Now that that's out of the way I should mention that corporate VPNs tend to adequately elevate your security, this articles sole purpose is to inform you that you never know who or what is behind these various consumer VPNs. The people receiving your data could range from a forgotten cloud server to foreign governments. There are of course still ways that you can stay safe online. Including but not limited to using unique passwords, two factor authentication, virtual machines, and always analyzes emails, links, and QR codes before engaging with them.