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Do not put yourself at risk.<\/p>\n
getty<\/p>\n
Here we go again. Millions of iPhone and Android users are suddenly at risk as the latest porn ban<\/a> comes into effect. But it turns out the most serious threat to all those smartphone users is not the content, but the dangerous workarounds.<\/p>\n In the U.S., as state after state<\/a> has passed porn ban legislation, users have turned to virtual private networks (VPNs) to maintain their adult content fix. These apps tunnel web traffic via remote servers. And if those servers are located in a different state or country, the porn site thinks the phone is there as well. The porn ban is bypassed.<\/p>\n Now the U.K. has enacted its own version of this leaky, pointless legislation, resulting in VPNs suddenly dominating app download charts. One app developer told BBC News<\/a>, \u201cit had seen an 1,800% spike in downloads\u201d and many others have experienced the same.<\/p>\n ForbesFBI Warns iPhone And Android Users\u2014Do Not Share These TextsBy Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n Similar surges have been seen in the U.S. as each new ban comes into effect<\/a>. The reality is that the bans or requirement for age verification \u2014 which amount to the same when users don\u2019t want to associate real-world identifies with porn sites \u2014 do not work. Much worse though, these countermeasures are dangerous and are putting millions at risk.<\/p>\n To run a VPN, a developer needs to operate expensive infrastructure \u2014 the servers and network capacity to route traffic between devices and websites. Good VPNs offer a menu of locations, enabling users to pick the country or state where they will seem to be.<\/p>\n Porn sites take your IP address at face value. If there\u2019s a ban or restriction in your location but your IP address suggests you\u2019re somewhere else, you will be granted access. It would be very easy for the websites to check if you\u2019re using a VPN. A clash between your IP address and your browser fingerprints for example. But they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n The risk is that users don\u2019t need a complex, fully-featured VPN to beat the bans. Any app will do. And China\u2019s free app industry is happy to oblige. Using a free VPN without good security and data protection is very much worse than using no app at all.<\/p>\n Researchers have even found many free VPNs are linked to the Chinese government and its military. The Tech Transparency Project<\/a> warns \u201cmillions of Americans have downloaded apps that secretly route their internet traffic through Chinese companies.\u201d<\/p>\n Top10VPN\u2019s Simon Migliano says this means \u201cthe risks are too great,\u201d and \u201cin light of these findings, I strongly urge users to avoid Chinese-owned VPNs altogether.”<\/p>\n