What Is A VPN?

When you connect to a VPN, your internet traffic is routed through a secure, encrypted tunnel, meaning you're protected from certain “man-in-the-middle" hacking attacks and other cybercrimes where normal TLS encryption is compromised. This is particularly useful if you use public WiFi or are on a shared, open network.

A VPN also takes back control of your browsing data from your ISP or network admin – these are guaranteed instances where your browsing data is being logged, stored, and sometimes even sold.

But it’s important to note that not all VPN services offer the same privacy protection as PIA. For example, some VPNs log user data, but our strict no-usage-logs policy promises that we never collect any personally identifying information about our users. This policy has been tested many times in court, and we’ve never been able to produce a single piece of data about any of our customers. We don’t record which IP addresses connect to our VPN servers, when they connect, how long they’re connected for, how much bandwidth they send and receive, or anything like that.

Yes. VPNs are legal in the vast majority of countries worldwide. Using a VPN to protect your digital privacy and online freedom is your right as an internet user. Unfortunately, some countries such as China, Russia, Belarus, and North Korea only allow citizens to use state-approved VPN services. But in most places around the world, a VPN is perfectly legal (and in many cases, encouraged!).

Many reasons! For starters, all our VPN apps are 100% open source, meaning our source code is completely transparent and available to the public — something that very few VPN services do.

PIA’s VPN also happens to be the most configurable and customizable VPN currently available, giving you virtually unlimited control over your connection and settings.

And PIA works with all major streaming platforms and has servers in 84 countries, so you can securely access your favorite shows wherever you are.

Our VPN offers a comprehensive list of features, including advanced split tunneling, firewall-based leak protection, built-in ad blocking, variable encryption settings, traffic obfuscation, and even a VPN snooze clock. You can learn more about our features here.

And PIA’s user interface is intuitive and easy to use even for first time users, and our technical support team is available 24/7 via email and live chat. In short, Private Internet Access offers the most flexible, functional, and secure VPN service on the planet.

It depends on why you're using a VPN. All the benefits of using a VPN — like obscuring your internet traffic, securely encrypting your data, and unblocking content on restricted networks — can be enjoyed on mobile devices as well as desktops, routers, gaming consoles, and smart TVs.

A little bit, but that’s the case with all VPNs. In particular, PIA’s VPN is often rated as the fastest VPN in independent testing thanks to our global network of world-class servers optimized for 10 Gbps speeds. The only time PIA may drastically affect your connection speed is if the server becomes overcrowded or if you’re trying to access a server that is particularly far away. To resolve this issue, you simply need to switch servers.

PIA accepts PayPal, all major credit cards, Amazon Pay, and anonymous payment methods like cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin and Ethereum) and third-party gift cards (Starbucks, Walmart, Best Buy, and many more). If you want to pay for your PIA VPN subscription with a gift card, click here to get started.