VPN Traffic, Use Spikes in Wake of Death of User Privacy Rules

VPN adoption, and overall traffic, has soared in the wake of Congress' decision to sell you out on privacy in exhange for large ISP campaign contributions. Several VPN providers tell state they've seen a more than 50% spike in downloads since the repeal of the Broadband Consumer Privacy Rules. Hong Kong-based VPN provider PureVPN says it has seen a 50% spike in overall traffic and a 21% spike in downloads since the vote. VPN provider Nord VPN also says the company has seen an 86% spike in inquiries.

Of course much of the surge is because VPN providers have taken full marketing advantage of the rules' repeal.

VPN provider Private Internet Access says the company saw a 50 to 100 percent increase in new sign ups after running a full page ad in the New York Times criticizing the GOP for its party-line vote supporting the repeal.

"Such spikes in user interest in VPNs are not unusual - whenever a government announces increase in surveillance, people turn to privacy tools. We saw similar spikes back in November when UK passed the law dubbed ‘The Snoopers Charter’ or after the revelation about CIA surveillance by the Wikileaks," the provider says of the spike.

Unfortunately, there has also been a spike in bogus VPN providers that have attempted to take advantage of consumers in the wake of the repeal. One such outfit used the compromised data obtained from hacking Plex and Boxee forums to market a bogus VPN service to unwitting targets.

While a VPN is a useful tool, consumers need to remember that it's not a silver bullet, or a real replacement for the protections the FCC's rules provided.

ISPs still track your location data and DNS records, even if you're using a VPN. Similarly, a VPN doesn't stop a company from using on-device snoopware to track you (remember Carrier IQ?). Neither will it stop ISPs from charging you a premium for privacy (something both AT&T and Comcast have already experimented with). Nor will a VPN stop a company from using your credit score to provide worse customer service (something CableONE has crowed about).

Others are quick to point out that VPN providers are notoriously inconsistent on quality, and may or may not store and sell your private data themselves. And nobody really audits VPN providers' promises when it comes to privacy and data retention. In other words: be selective when choosing a VPN provider, and don't assume it's the only tool you need when looking to protect your privacy.

Share some of your privacy tips and tricks in the comment section below.