Commercial VPN services are often used by those wishing to disguise or obfuscate their physical location or IP address, typically as a means to evade Internet censorship or geo-blocking.
This includes virtual network adapters on computer OSes and specialized "VPN" interfaces on mobile operating systems.
[5] Users are commonly exposed to misinformation on the VPN services market, which makes it difficult for them to discern fact from false claims in advertisements.
[11] According to Consumer Reports, VPN service providers have poor privacy and security practices and also make hyperbolic claims.
[23] PC Magazine recommends that users consider choosing a provider based in a country with no data retention laws because that makes it easier for the service to keep a promise of no logging.