VPN
A VPN (virtual private network) is software that sends all of a device's network traffic through an encrypted connection to a provider's server, which then contacts websites on the device's behalf.
Explanation
In depth
A VPN is installed on the device, either as an app or as a profile in the operating system's network settings. Once connected, it captures traffic from every application - browser, messaging apps, games, background updates - and forwards it to a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see that server's address and location instead of yours. Your Wi-Fi operator or ISP sees that you are connected to a VPN server and how much data moves, but not which sites you open. The provider, however, is in the position your ISP used to be in: it can see where the traffic goes, so the trust question moves rather than disappears. A web proxy such as AnyProxy is narrower. It only carries the pages you open inside its tab, needs nothing installed, and leaves other apps on your normal connection. It also does not carry WebRTC, which browsers use for calls. Choose a VPN when you need every app covered; choose a web proxy when you only need one site in a browser on a device where you cannot install software.
In practice
VPN in the real world
A VPN carries all of a device's traffic through an encrypted tunnel to another network. That power is also why governments target it: Rest of World counts nine countries that have banned VPNs, and in April–May 2025 India ordered Google to remove more than 3,000 apps from the Play Store, VPN apps among them, under Section 69A. In the UAE, misusing a VPN to reach blocked services can bring fines of Dh500,000–2 million.
Sources: Rest of World — countries that ban VPNs · MediaNama — 3,000+ apps removed under 69A (2025)
We checked
What a site sees through a web proxy (for comparison)
Questions about VPN
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