VPN
A photo illustration taken in Beijing shows the screen of a laptop with the word 'VPN' written in the search field of the Chinese Baidu website, March 30, 2018. FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

There is a whole host of reasons why people could want to use a service that makes their internet browsing anonymous, be it the fear of hacking or being tracked by the government or getting across firewalls or even doing something borderline illegal. But one of the most common online activities that people regularly want to hide from curious, prying eyes is their consumption of pornography.

So it would make sense for Pornhub, ever the resourceful website for adult entertainment content, to do something about it. Earlier this week, it started VPNhub, its very own VPN (virtual private network) service that allows users to visit whatever corners of the internet they like while maintaining their anonymity and privacy.

According to VPNhub’s website, features of the service include “totally free and unlimited bandwidth on your device of choice,” one-click connectivity that makes it easy to use, hiding your IP address, as well as support across platforms. Most of these are standard for most VPN services, but the “free and unlimited” data is not something easily found.

The service is available for both mobile and desktop devices. The mobile version comes as an app called VPNhub, available on both Google Play for Android devices (currently rated 4.4, based on 2,120 ratings) and on Apple’s App Store for iOS (currently rated 4, based on 91 ratings).

The desktop versions, however (both for Windows and MacOS), are available only for the premium version of the service, which must be bought through the app. Different options start at $12.99 for a month and go up to $54.99 for a full year’s subscription. By default, auto-renewal of the service is on, but can be turned off in users’ account settings after the first purchase has been made.

Signing up for a premium account also provides other benefits, according to the VPNhub website. Other than a 7-day trial, there would be no ads, the connection speeds would be faster than the free service, and significantly, premium subscribers would be able to choose their geolocation — an important feature when it comes to both bypassing firewalls that block content based on geographic location of a machine’s IP address, as well as accessing content that may be deemed illegal in one country but not in another (such as politically sensitive material blocked by certain governments).

In the “frequently asked questions” section on its website, VPNhub says it does not ever “store, collect, sell, or transmit your personal info to third parties.”

There are some countries the service won’t be available in, because of sanctions by the United States. These are Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. VPNhub also said its services might be blocked in China, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.