A Short, Qualitative Analysis Of Virtual Private Networks

This paper provides an overview of the current state of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) by combining a general analysis of key issues with the perspectives of employees working at five popular VPN companies. This paper argues that VPN technology cannot be analyzed in a meaningful way without reference to the values and motivations of the people of which the companies comprise. A key finding is the differences observed between different employees’ understanding of terms essential to VPN competence: “security” and “privacy”. These differences highlight the difficulty of judging VPNs objectively, as, their perceived functionality ultimately depends on an affective alignment of values between user and company.