- According to reports, Iran officials are discouraging citizens to use popular free VPN applications
- VPN’s demand has shot among the Iranians since June 13, 2025, when recent Internet restrictions began
- According to reports, Internet connectivity has also been low throughout the country since June 18
While people in Iran are looking for ways to stay connected, Iranian authorities warn their citizens who use VPN services.
In a tweet on Monday, the nation warned its citizens that free VPNs not only put their own data at risk but also the security of the whole country.
“More than half of the free VPNs collect their very confidential information and send it to the servers abroad, without their knowledge or permission. Hello VPN, it transfers the data of the users to a company called Luminati, based in Israel,” says a tweet shared on Monday, June 23, 2025, by the Fars newspaper agency, which is administered by the Islamic Revolitarian Guard.
بیش از نصف فیل Obstene. خارج از کشور ارسال. فیلترشکن Hello VPN ، اطلاعا اطلاعا کاربران را به شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک شرک ‘June 23, 2025
The warning comes with VPN’s demand shooting in Iran since June 13, after Internet restrictions were enforced.
The data from Top10VPN confirmed peaks of up to 707% on the reference level, with the peak in the VPN demand still in progress at the time of writing.
However, despite this increase, the use of VPN also seems to be an objective within the country with users regretting that its applications do not work consistently.
Since June 18, Iran has also experienced an almost total Internet blackout, as the Internet surveillance networks reported, which reported further impacting the ability to use the best VPN applications.
Is the use of a free VPN safe?
We have warned for a long time about the risks of using free VPN services in Techradar. Some free VPN applications can collect user data to direct them with advertisements or simply to sell one. Computer pirates can also use these applications to spread malware and other malicious software.
It was discovered that Hello VPN, specifically, it sold the inactive bandwidth of its users through Luminati in 2015. It is also infamous to collect a lot of identifiable information about its users.
The Top10VPN Research Chief, Simon Migliano agrees that Hola VPN and other unwanted gifts are a bad choice for Iranians (or any other person) due to their serious privacy and security deficiencies.
That said, Migliano told Techradar: “For the Iranian government to instruct its citizens to avoid all free VPNs it is simply false.”
“The truth is that there are several reliable free VPNs, such as Proton VPN and Windscribe, who use strong security standards along with friendly registration policies with privacy. They are completely safe to use and the Iranian government knows it very well,” he added.
The Iranian information security analyst and defender of women’s rights Azam Jangrevi also confirmed to Techradar that the Iran authorities previously published some VPNs that are not safe.
She said: “Iranian officials discourage free tools, citing a bad encryption, a misuse of data and possible ties with surveillance schemes. Some ‘free’ VPN applications may have been developed or approved in silence by the authorities to monitor online behavior under privacy prison.
“Digital rights groups advise the Iranians who trust in VPN paid of good reputation with stealth characteristics, turn suppliers when blocking and avoiding downloading applications through suspicious links or ads.”
Iran’s vpn repression
Iranian authorities have tried to avoid the use of VPN in Iran. Iran was the second after China for VPN censorship in 2023.
These blocks continued in 2024 with Iran heading the VPN censorship list in official applications of the country.
In February 2024, the Iranian authorities took another step by prohibiting the use of “unauthorized” VPN without legal permission. Three months later, the Government also resurrected an Internet bill that could put VPN use at an additional risk.
However, as Jangrevi told Techradar: “Despite the strong censorship, the use of VPN within Iran has increased in response to the blackouts imposed by the State. Users report that the VPN paid with advanced obfuscation still work, although not reliably.”
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