And for @bigmitch8 @vax2000 @njfking @Fred and any others who may be interested
Yes there are shonky VPN providers out there and that is why before using one you should look into it and see what others are saying about it. There are lots of sites where people talk about VPN providers and even articles on reputable web sites that discuss them. Search on Google about the VPN/s you are interested in and see what feedback there is about it/them. And many VPNs do give their users a large degree of privacy and anonymity when browsing the web and make their interactions much safer.
But a VPN is a tool and like all tools there are good and bad ways of using them. Encrypting your data when sending it over the net is a safer option than sending it unencrypted. A VPN encrypts your data, and only at your PC and where it exits the VPN is the data unencrypted. If the VPN doesn’t keep detailed logs (some don’t) of your traffic then it is very hard or impossible for them to see what you have sent/done. If the site you wish to visit properly uses HTTPS (check the security on the address bar) rather than HTTP then even after your data exits the VPN it is encrypted until it is on the site you are visiting and is not able to be deciphered by the VPN provider at any time. Using Tor over a VPN increases your security as the Tor system also encrypts your data and sends it through many channels until it reaches the Tor Exit Node and again if the site you wish to visit uses HTTPS then the data remains encrypted until it is on the site or on your PC.
HTTPS is what your Bank/Financial Institutions use to keep your data safe when you web bank. HTTPS is what keeps your interactions with this site safer from outside interference. Google, Yahoo and others encourage you to use their secure services to keep your data private from snooping as it passes through the web. The sites in these cases can be where the fault lies for the loss of control over your data but that is not the fault of VPNs, the use of HTTPS, or your secure habits. The day will come that Quantum computers will break the current security but hopefully that day is a long way off. But as the future advances of computing occur, the way we secure our communications will also advance. So if you visit a site that doesn’t use HTTPS drop them a line and encourage them to do so, even if you don’t use a VPN it will make your web interactions much more secure. Use HTTPS Everywhere (https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere) from Electronic Frontier Foundation (and have a read of their articles from here https://ssd.eff.org/en and here https://www.eff.org/) to help you connect to sites that do have HTTPS but that can be hard to use.
There is a very good site about VPN providers and what their structures are like see this link to a previous post Geoblocking and accessing content online that has a link to the site and it’s tables.
