When VPNs Are Actually Useful

VPNs provide genuine value in specific scenarios. On public WiFi, a VPN prevents other users on the network from intercepting your traffic.

For journalists and activists in authoritarian regimes, VPNs can be essential safety tools. If your ISP throttles certain types of traffic (like streaming), a VPN can prevent this by hiding the nature of your traffic. These are legitimate use cases where the privacy trade-off makes sense.