Though it’s mostly used as a way to get past China’s Great Firewall, it can also be used to avoid other blocks. ShadowsocksĪ step up from regular proxies is Shadowsocks, which through the use of a specific type of encryption can be a great way to escape censorship. As for suggestions, our favorites are HideMyAss’ proxy or ’s proxy.

Their biggest asset is that they’re free to use, though be careful which ones you use as some may be used for data collection. While they’re useful to unblock YouTube and other low-security sites, they do a pretty poor job of anything else. VPNs, the biggest difference is the complete lack of encryption in proxies, which makes them vulnerable to interception. The most basic of all VPN alternatives is the proxy, which is a very simple program that relays your connection and that’s about it. Data collection is also a lot less likely with these solutions. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to make use of VPNs’ most important functions-as much as we appreciate entertainment, it’s not exactly vital to life-for either free or at least at a much lower cost. Though most services claim to be no-log VPNs that don’t keep any of your data, there’s been enough cooperation with law enforcement over the years to make even the most trusting among us a bit leery of such claims. The other reason is that VPNs are a bit of a black box and it’s hard to gauge exactly what happens with your data.

What is tor vpn