It’s the nightmare of every digital-privacy-minded person—the precise kind who’d download a VPN in the first place, right?You download a browser extension designed to keep your browsing activity, payment details, password entry forms, and video calls safe from prying eyes, and you find out the extension has been taking photographs of every website you’ve visited.Koi Security released a bombshell of a report on August 19 saying that FreeVPN.One has been doing. More than 100,000 people have downloaded it off Google’s official Chrome Web Store, where it has a “verified” badge. How the hell did this happen?(opens in a new window)Proton VPN(opens in a new window)Available at Proton VPN (Free)Buy Now(opens in a new window)Available at Proton VPN (Paid)Buy Now(opens in a new window)free vpns can be a minefieldI say it again and again. Free VPNs (among other free software) can be dodgy as hell. If you need to download a free VPN, I strongly recommend Proton VPN for a ton of reasons. I’ve used it, I trust it.As I write in my Guide to the Best VPNs, “VPN stands for virtual private network. Acting as a middleman, it routes all the information exchange between you and other websites’ servers on the internet, in both directions, through a server owned by the VPN service.“Should a website or a bad actor try to follow you across the web, they won’t see your unique, identifiable IP address, only that of the VPN server you’re connected to. Since these are shared servers—any decent VPN will have thousands of servers to choose from—you disappear into the crowd if a data thief or snoop tries to eavesdrop on your digital trail.”That’s the layman’s definition for a very complicated topic, anyway.Trusting the wrong VPN—FreeVPN.One, in this case, according to Koi Security—can have dire consequences to your digital privacy. Besides the creepiness of a piece of unknown software recording every website you visit and somebody potentially seeing it, just imagine them violating the sanctity of your passwords and payment information.I feel like I need a shower after reading Koi’s report. Again, VPNs are worth paying for, but it’s completely understandable if that’s not in the cards for you financially. In that case, I’d recommend Proton VPN’s free version. It’s transparent, vetted, and secure.(opens in a new window)Proton VPN(opens in a new window)Available at Proton VPN (Free)Buy Now(opens in a new window)Available at Proton VPN (Paid)Buy Now(opens in a new window)The post That Free Chrome Extension Everyone Loves Has Been Spying on You appeared first on VICE.