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When a netizen goes to the Internet on board a VPN - virtual private network - his movements of the network become invisible to most observers.
Under the protection of these systems, which encrypt traffic information, hypothetical cybercriminals, indiscreet websites and even telecommunications service providers go blind.
In December 2019, 25% of Internet users accessed the network through these tunnels.
The appetite for these services is such that even Google has decided to include them in its portfolio.
Last week, the company announced the launch of its VPN for Android in the United States and its plans to expand the new tool to more countries and operating systems in the coming months.
Who doesn't want a few crumbs of digital invisibility in these meddlesome times?
Using these networks allows us to navigate safely, even if we are using public networks.
Even if communication is intercepted, it is not possible to decrypt it to obtain the sites we visit, what we do on them, the information we send, our IP.
No one can see us ... or almost no one.
The problem with VPNs is that the tunnel owner can do whatever he wants with it.
Trusting our Internet traffic to third parties exposes us to the possibility that they may decide to take a peek through the keyhole.
"The risks are many. You can end up installing an application on your mobile or computer that is precisely capturing traffic", explains Juan José Nombela, director of the Computer Science and Technology Area of the International University of La Rioja (UNIR).
Thus, choosing the wrong person responsible for protecting our privacy can end up having the opposite effect.
"Maybe it acts as a VPN so others cannot see the information, but the manufacturer can spy on all that unencrypted traffic," he continues.
Nombela's first recommendation in choosing these services is also one of the basic rules of the Internet: do not download anything that comes from an unreliable source.
"When you use a VPN you are putting all your trust in someone," explains Andy Yen, CEO and founder of Proton Technologies, the company responsible for encrypted email ProtonMail and ProtonVPN, the first open source VPN service.
Yen, a passionate advocate for the private Internet, raises his hands at Google's new role as a provider of virtual private network services: “This allows Google to see all your Internet activity.
Right now, they can monitor you if you are on a website of theirs or that uses their technology.
If you use their VPN, it doesn't matter where you are and what service you are using.
They can see everything, because basically you are passing all your traffic through the Google network. "
For now, and according to what the Mountain View giant explains in the
paper
that details the operation of its VPN, Google will not save traffic data, IP addresses of the devices, bandwidths and connection hours of users who use this service.
"What they say today is not enough, we also take into account what they could say in three years," warns Yen, who gives the example of the purchase of WhatsApp by Facebook.
"At first they made certain promises and eventually they began to extract data from WhatsApp."
Minor evils
But then to whom do we give the keys to the kingdom?
Trusting the providers of these private networks is in line with the logic of the known bad guy who is better than the good one.
We put our digital privacy in the hands of third parties in the hope that they will guarantee that other worse ones will not be able to access it.
In this sense, for Yen it is essential to know who is behind the company before making the decision: "In the end, the software is run by people. We like to hear about computers as autonomous and automated things, but when you trust one software company you're trusting a person, "he explains.
Nombela advises going to the advice of specialized official entities, such as the Office of Internet User Safety (OSI).
"They have already evaluated some security tools for different purposes. Thus, the user has the guarantee that they will not encounter a Trojan horse," he explains.
Yen's main asset in gaining the trust of its users is open source, which allows the user community to examine how these tools are built.
"Anyone has the ability to review the source code and see what the software is doing," he explains.
In this way, the expert eye can verify that ProtonVPN fulfills its promise of not storing any traffic information.
"I would not trust any software that was not
open source,
" he insists.
The profane eye, on the other hand, can be entrusted to the laws in force in the country where the company that offers these services locates its servers.
"In the United States, for example, the General Data Protection Regulation or the Organic Data Protection Law does not apply, so the guarantees will not be the same. It is recommended that it be a European company," says Nombela.
In addition, the location not only determines the legal issues but can affect the speed of the connection: if the servers are located too far away, we unnecessarily lengthen the route that our data follows and consequently, the response times.
"It is important to choose a provider that has a wide geographic range and a good number of servers in your region," confirms Yen.
Decision made, can we breathe easy?
Yes and no.
Nombela confirms that these services offer us an additional layer of privacy, but do not neutralize other risks.
"It's like changing the lock on your house and leaving a window open. Or like going outside with a mask, relaxing and having parties and bottles. The precautions have to be the same: be careful what you connect to, be careful what you download, watch out for emails. You don't have to relax. "