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.
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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:
Number of servers: 3500+ | Server locations: 60+ | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 6 NordVPN is a Panama based VPN service provider. Hence, it is free of the U.S and the European countries jurisdictions. Due to it, the users can enjoy anonymous networking with its No Log Policy. Double encryption, a variety of protocol support, excellent customer support makes it one of the best VPN in the market. Most noteworthy, the pricing plans are quiet on the nominal side and worth the services provided. Number of servers: 1800+ | Server locations: 148 | IP addresses: 30,000 | Maximum devices supported: 3 ExpressVPN has become the market leader in the VPN industry. With its supreme quality VPN performance during past seven years. Therefore, it attracted and retained millions of users and enhanced customer loyalty. All due to services that are beyond comparison. That is the reason it sits at the top position in our VPN table. ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands. Which keeps it away from the Data Retention policies enforced by NSA, GCHQ. Number of servers: 500+ | Server locations: 50 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: Unlimited Surfshark VPN is ahead of the curve in technological advancement. Surfshark VPN will ensure online privacy for your whole family – simple and intuitive on the outside with a robust security mechanism inside. Number of servers: 6,200+ | Server locations: 87+ | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 7 Number of servers: 3339+ | Server locations: 36 | IP addresses: N/A | Maximum devices supported: 5#1 NordVPN (3.29$/month)
Avail 72% Discount
#2 ExpressVPN (8.32$/month)
Avail 35% Discount
#3 Surfshark VPN (2.49$/month)
Avail 81% Discount
#4 CyberGhostVPN (2.15$/month)
CyberGhostVPN was established in 2011 and gained popularity. It is due to its dedication towards providing outstanding and unique security and privacy features. CyberGhostVPN defends privacy as a basic human right, being the first in the industry to publish a transparency report while building new user-oriented crypto-technology for the future.
Avail 83% Discount
#5 Private Internet Access (2.19$/month)
Private Internet Access service provides you unbeatable internet security and privacy. It is due to its sustainable and specialized security barrier based on several layers. Hence, For an end to end protection with its amazing features. That includes; Anonymous IP, high-grade encryption. That is based on cryptographically secure Blowfish CBC algorithm.
Avail 78% Discount
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.