The introduction of age verification laws is one of the biggest digital privacy stories of 2025, especially in the US and UK.
The restrictions are in place to protect children from accessing adult-only sites, but privacy advocates warn that sharing personal information with third parties to access sensitive content could create more problems than it solves.
To protect their data and digital privacy, people are increasingly turning to VPNs. However, it is not surprising that Wisconsin legislators are unhappy with this and have drafted a bill (called Wisconsin AB 105/SB 130) that could make it illegal to use a VPN to access adult content.
For now, VPNs are still a great way to improve your online security in Wisconsin. So we've rounded up the best VPNs with the best Black Friday VPN deals to help you stay safe for less.
Can I trust a VPN with my data?
If you're wary of third-party data processors, you may be wondering how VPNs are different. Can they be trusted with identifying information?
As is often the case, it depends on the VPN. We only recommend secure VPNs and usually suggest using paid providers.
Legitimate VPNs don't keep logs of what you do online and don't store any data that could be tracked or used to create a profile of your activity. The same cannot be said about insecure VPNs. Their encryption is often weak, leaving your data vulnerable to interception, and the worst VPNs even collect and sell your information to data brokers for profit.
This is especially true for free VPNs (although there are several safe exceptions). After all, running and running a VPN service is expensive, and unless users pay a subscription, they're often paying for their privacy (and data).
A recent report from Zimperium zLabs claims that a huge portion of free VPNs for Android and iOS are completely unreliable. They were found to be using outdated code and asking for excessive permissions.
Additionally, back in April, the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) examined the top 100 free VPN apps on the US App Store and found that millions of users have sent their data to China without realizing it.
However, despite their risky nature, free VPNs will always be a tempting option. A TechRadar survey conducted in May even confirmed that almost one in four readers still used free VPNs.
If you want to make sure you choose a VPN (free or paid) that you can trust with your data, here's what it should have:
- Regular checks of the no-logs policy
- A privacy policy that is easy to read and clearly states what data is collected, why and how it is stored.
- Modern VPN protocols such as OpenVPN and WireGuard.
- Well implemented encryption, typically AES-256.
- Basic security tools such as kill switch, obfuscation and even multi-hop technology.
