Numerous UK residents and citizens often wonder about the legitimacy of VPNs. In general, VPNs are entirely legal tools that you can use to ensure that your connection is secure and private. Nevertheless, a lot of Brits also use VPN to access geo-blocked websites and apps. So, are they legal and safe to use in the UK? Read on to find out.
Read more: Why Do Indians Use VPN?
Are VPNs Legal in the UK?
Indeed, VPNs are entirely legal in the UK. There are literally no rules or regulations that explicitly ban the use of VPNs in the United Kingdom.
However, the UK has some severely scary laws that allow British police and intelligence agencies unprecedented access to your online activity and information. Because of those laws, many people don’t really know if they can legally use tools that stop that monitoring.
The fact is, however, that using a VPN is legal. But, do not confuse this with the legitimate use of a VPN. You can use VPNs to protect yourself online and access geo-blocked sites. However, you cannot use VPNs for illegal activities online.
VPN Explained!
VPNs are cyber-security tools. They have two primary functions that work together to secure your data and make sure your connection is private:
1) Encrypting all of your data.
2) Re-routing all of your traffic through their own secure servers.
The second function allows VPN users to bypass geo-blocked sites, too. How? Well, when your traffic gets re-routed, your public IP address also changes. Websites and apps use IP bans to restrict access to their services based on location. Because you can select the VPN server you connect to, you can basically choose the public IP address you end up getting. This happens because your new IP address will reflect the location of the server you’re connected to.
Therefore, while VPNs or Virtual Private Networks do give you an extra ability to watch geo-blocked content as well as websites outlawed by British ISPs; that’s not their primary function. There is nothing in a VPN’s functionality that is, by nature, illegal.
However, it is worth mentioning here, that connecting to a VPN to perform illegal activities is not acceptable, and is in no way supported by our team. As long as you are using your VPN for legal purposes, then the VPN is legal in the UK.
Read more: Why do Australians use a VPN?
Best VPN for the UK
Try out one of the following top-tier providers to get the best-suited VPN service for you:
1. NordVPN
2. ExpressVPN
3. Surfshark
4. CyberGhost
5. Private Internet Access
Conclusion
It’s understandable that VPNs are powerful enough to block out any kind of ISP or governmental monitoring, so, the question of their legality is essential. Rest assured that as long as you employ your VPN connection for legal and intentional purposes, you’re 100% within your rights to do so. If you misuse a VPN’s features for illegal activities, though, then you run the risk of some severe rectifications. Let us know your thought on this in the comment sections below.
