In this day and age, there is a thin line between privacy and freedom of speech, the mere idea of the government monitoring each and every cyber action of its citizens is terrifying. If it weren’t for Edward Snowden, the effects of the NSA implementing domestic surveillance programs would never be uncovered. The privacy laws are continually changing and blurry. However, most of the population consider online privacy, a fundamental right. To combat this infringement of rights and intrusions, VPNs were founded. A VPN, or  Virtual Private Network , is a ‘secure tunnel between two or more devices’. VPNs are used to protect private web traffic from snooping, interference, and censorship.’

Uses of VPNs

• Hide your IP address and location
• Encrypt your communications
• Watch your favorite content
• View blocked websites from anywhere
• Avoid censorship and surveillance
• Stay safe from hackers and thieves
• Prevent third parties from tracking you

Top 8 VPN providers

Given below is a list of the best VPN providers of 2017.

Buffered

Buffered VPN operates servers in 37 countries, but strategically locates them in order to provide access to the most popular areas. Also, note that Buffered VPN operates servers in Canada and Mexico. So, US residents can find geographically close connections that still terminate outside the country, which is great for streaming due to connections that impose less latency.

NordVPN

Provides secure access to social networks, messaging apps, news platforms and media content, NordVPN is easily one of the best VPN services in the market. It’s also based in Panama, which has the added bonus of preventing the Federal government from claiming jurisdiction and forfeiting sensitive customer records.

NordVPN also doesn’t keep any logs of your data, so anonymity is assured. It has to access a wide variety of servers, including more than 1,000 servers in diverse locations worldwide. Also, allows six simultaneous connections and P2P. Furthermore, it blocks ads and other web threats with secure access to social networks, messaging apps, news platforms and media content.

CyberGhost

Based in Romania, it operates servers in 30 different countries. The encryption is rock solid since it offers IKEv2 encryption and access to the OpenVPN protocol.
The service allows up to five simultaneous connections as well. With CyberGhost, your online activity is genuinely private, just as it should be.

ExpressVPN

Offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can take it as a test drive, fully refundable if not satisfied with the service. With a massive network of over 1700 global VPN servers optimized for fast connections and an impressive protocol support, ExpressVPN also allows three simultaneous connections per account. It accepts anonymous crypto-currencies like Bitcoin too, and it has an app that simplifies the process of configuring a VPN to your router.

IPVanish

IPVanish is one of the true Top Tier VPN services in the world. They deliver the best VPN speeds, the most secure connections and the most competitive pricing anywhere. This is a fast VPN that is uniquely suited to people that want to stream in HD.Their VPN network spans more than 40,000 IPs on more than 1,000 servers in over 60 countries, giving the ability to surf anonymously and access the unlimited Internet in every corner of the globe.

Hide Me

A robust solution for your privacy needs, thanks to its advanced privacy features with fast speeds, especially in Europe, along with 24/7 live support. They do not limit or throttle your Torrent speed. One can enjoy the best speed if they enable dynamic port-forwarding and bind their VPN clients with Hide Me’s SOCKS proxy to the VPN connection.

PureVPN

Pure VPN’ has over 750 servers, serves in more than 140 countries and more than 180 locations. Along with this, it has 1 million plus satisfied users. Today, PureVPN stands tall as a VPN provider with impressive enterprise-grade security features to combat the worst of threats and carries with it the best of reputations.

Hotspot Shield

Provides secure and private access to a free and open internet. This VPN provider enables the user to access social networks, audio and video streaming, and news outlets from any location. Encrypts all your data and keeps no records of your individual activities online.