![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754759467_53_960x0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A 34-year-old woman is sitting in the dark room and using her smartphone.<\/p>\n
getty<\/p>\n
While TikTok has generated the most headlines<\/a> when it comes to allegations of your data being secretly sent to China, it turns out that a much bigger threat could have been been hiding on your phone all this time. And this one is much more dangerous.<\/p>\n It has taken a spate of porn bans \u2014 first in the U.S.<\/a> and now in Europe<\/a> to flush out this risk. As much as smartphone users need their TikTok fix, porn is an even bigger draw. And tens of millions of users are suddenly masking their internet traffic for the first time, pretending to be somewhere they are not to bypass those bans.<\/p>\n This is done by way of virtual private networks or VPNs. The same technology that failed to circumvent TikTok\u2019s short-lived U.S. ban in January. But for porn, VPNs work just fine. vpnMentor saw a \u201cstaggering\u201d 6,000% surge in U.K VPN use after restrictions came into effect. The same explosive growth seen in the U.S. and France.<\/p>\n ForbesMicrosoft\u2019s New Windows Warning\u2014Pay $20 To Save All Your DataBy Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n Many of the installed VPNs were free apps<\/a> topping App Store and Play Store charts. But many of these have a nasty, hidden secret. As Top10VPN\u2019s Simon Migliano warns, “despite being made aware of glaring privacy failures and opaque corporate structures, Google and Apple continue to permit these high-risk apps on their platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n A month ago, the Tech Transparency Project<\/a> (TTP) issued a report into free VPNs, warning that \u201cmillions of Americans have downloaded apps that secretly route their internet traffic through Chinese companies.\u201d It reported on this same threat in April<\/a>. \u201cApple and Google app stores continue to offer private browsing apps that are surreptitiously owned by Chinese companies\u2026 six weeks after they were identified.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn light of these findings,” Migliano warns, “I strongly urge users to avoid Chinese-owned VPNs altogether.” He says \u201cthe risks are too great\u201d to keep them on your phone. And free VPN warnings<\/a> are now surging almost as fast as the VPNs themselves.<\/p>\n ForbesSamsung\u2019s Android Decision\u2014Do You Suddenly Need A New Phone?By Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n As BeyondTrust\u2019s James Maude told me \u201cif you aren\u2019t paying for a product, you are the product. These VPNs are a perfect example of the hidden costs of free apps where users seeking privacy are potentially unknowingly feeding data to a foreign nation state.”<\/p>\n Google told me it is “committed to compliance with applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws. When we locate accounts that may violate these laws, our related policies or Terms of Service, we take appropriate action.\u201d<\/p>\n While Apple says it enforces App Store rules but does not differentiate its handling of apps by the location of their developers, albeit VPNs are prohibited from sharing data.<\/p>\n My advice is to open either the App Store on your iPhone or the Play Store on your Android, and then search for \u201cfree VPN<\/a>.\u201d You should delete any apps listed as installed on your phone that highlight that \u201cfree VPN” tag, unless they are linked to blue-chip, western technology firms that provide other security offerings.<\/p>\n