Most of the time, free VPNs simply aren’t worth using. They’ll almost always have a monthly bandwidth limit and thanks to their smaller networks, most major streaming services block them outright. To make matters worse, they frequently ask for more permissions than are necessary. That’s a big privacy issue because the app has control over features it shouldn’t. Not only that, but you’ll be giving the company access to quite a bit of information that it doesn’t need, which just so happens to be extremely valuable to advertisers.
The best way to keep yourself safe is to stick with reputable, privacy-oriented providers. These tend to be paid VPNs, but on the plus side, most offer a money-back guarantee and discount on long-term plans so you can try them with no commitment.