VPN in India: New Government Rules, Best VPN for PC, Android & Mac

Do you use a VPN? How much do you know about VPNs? Most importantly, what if your favorite VPN stops working tomorrow? Though we have no intention of scaring you, such is the condition of all VPN brands after the newest rules set by the Government of India. In the last few months, many VPN brands have shifted their servers outside India. Also, the Indian Government wants to keep tabs on your data…sounds fishy, doesn’t it? Let’s discuss these new rules by the GOI for VPN brands. 

VPN or Virtual Private Network apps have been beneficial for millions of users in India. Ever since the risks of getting hacked or tracked on the internet increased, VPNs have been our life savers. Though now it seems that their lives are in danger in India, because of the new regulations put out by our Government. The officials have asked VPN brands to keep a record of their users’ 5 years of data and the same data should be given to the Government as and when required.

Yup, things are getting quite confusing and many VPN users are worried about whether they will be able to use VPN in the future or not. So today we will talk about the current situation of VPN brands in India. As a bonus, we have prepared a list of the best free and paid VPN apps that you can use on your mobile phone and PC; you can thank us later.

The Government of India, in April 2022, set out a new set of rules for all VPN brands. As per the directions by the GOI, VPN brands are required to store the data of their users for up to 5 years; when the Government asks for it, the same data should be provided to the officials. This particular order by the Government simply destroys the basic concept of using a VPN. What’s the meaning of using a VPN if your VPN app stores and shares your data? To understand these things, it’s first important to understand what a VPN is and what it is used for. 

A Virtual Private Network, as the name suggests, is a private network that lets the user surf the internet without being tracked. The best example for us is the mobile game, PlayerUnknown’s Battleground or PUBG for short. When it was first banned by the Indian Government, players started playing the game by using VPNs.

This suggests that a VPN lets you access apps, games, and websites that are otherwise banned in a region. But there is more to it…a VPN is also used by people who usually have to connect their devices to public Wi-Fi for work. While using a VPN, your IP address is safeguarded from hackers and all kinds of malice. For example, if you use a VPN in India while selecting a server from Japan and someone tries to locate you using your IP address, they will be directed to the Japanese server that you are connected to…I hope it’s not too confusing.

So, here are some of the benefits of using a VPN or say, the reasons why we use a VPN:

1. Access to banned sites, apps, and games.

2. Disguising your location.

3. Secure encryption to save you from hackers.

Although these are not all of the uses of a VPN, they include almost everything.

Now back to the topic at hand, the GOI asked VPN companies to store their users’ data. Luckily, the companies did not agree to these rules as they go completely against the promises that we users get while using a VPN. Although there have been many times when Government officials even considered banning all kinds of VPN apps in India. Fortunately, it’s not so easy and the Government knows that this will also lead to an increase in cyber crimes thus, as of now, no VPNs will be banned in our country.

As discussed above, major VPN companies like Surfshark, NordVPN, and Proton VPN, along with others, did not agree to the new rules set by the Government of India. Thus, to continue providing service to their Indian users, these brands shut down their servers in India. This saved them from any penalties by the Government. So, will you not be able to use VPNs anymore? Don’t worry, only the Indian servers were shut down by VPN apps. You can still use your preferred VPN by connecting to a server in some other country. In fact, this is what we always do, don’t we?

Nope, definitely not! The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, CERT-in, asked VPN companies to store their users’ mobile numbers, e-mail addresses, and IP addresses for 5 years at least. Just think of it, your phone number and email address are being tracked by your own VPN app, and then the data is shared with the Government…sounds creepy, doesn’t it? But no worries, no such thing is going to happen anytime soon and you can continue using a secure VPN of your choice. But wait, which are the most secure VPNs for you?

Frankly speaking, it’s rather difficult to understand what a big organization such as the CERT-in thinks on a certain matter. We may criticize them for such rules that may threaten our privacy, but their reasons for the same are unknown yet. Moreover, the CERT-in is a Government organization and it is rather difficult to think that our Government would take such a big decision without thinking thoroughly about it. We have seen in the past how apps like TikTok and Shareit were banned from India for storing and leaking data to unauthorized organizations.

Many even believe that this decision of getting user data from VPN apps is important for the Government to reduce cyber crimes. It’s possible that the stored data might be of use to CERT-in for helping us against hackers and other threats that we may encounter online.

Now that we have talked about the new rules by the GOI for VPNs, it’s time to select a good VPN app for you. No matter what rules the Government makes, a VPN that is not secure and fast enough would be much worse for you, right? But I know how difficult it is to select a good VPN. If you find a secure one, it may reduce your internet speed. If you find one with better internet speed, there might be some other issues with it. And at last, when you find the best and most perfect VPN for you, it requires you to pay a premium. Let us handle the hustle with our list of the best free, freemium, and premium VPN apps for Windows PC, Android, and Mac: 

NordVPN is one of the oldest and biggest players in the VPN field. Let’s cut to the chase, the NordVPN team is so confident about the services that once you buy and start using NordVPN, they are ready to refund your money if you do not like the experience in the first 30 days of your purchase. That’s a big claim, isn’t it?

The NordVPN works seamlessly with a huge number of operating systems browsers, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Windows Edge, and Android TV. Even if you connect a gaming console or any other device to your computer that does not have a VPN app, NordVPN will work on them through your Mac, Windows, or other OS devices.

Here are all the perks of using NordVPN on your device:

• Fastest VPN for PC, Mac, and other devices.
• Supports almost every operating system.
• Blocks invasive ads, malicious websites, and malware.
• Kill switch to instantly turn off the internet if your VPN connection faces any problems.
• Notifies you if your login credentials are ever compromised.
• Has more than 5600 VPN servers in 59 countries.
• Split tunneling feature to select which apps connect to and use NordVPN and which stay connected to the local network.

These are some of the best features and benefits of using NordVPN.

Get the NordVPN now on your device.

The Surfshark VPN is a decent alternative to NordVPN that costs a bit more. Although NordVPN is a secure VPN service too, it was hacked once a while ago and since then, it has been difficult for some users to trust it. This is not the case with Surfshark VPN since it has not been hacked yet. Other than the price and security, there are very few differences between the Surfshark VPN and NordVPN. Just like NordVPN, Surfshark also promises 100% money back within the first 30 days of purchase if their service is unsatisfactory.

It has more than 3200 servers in over 100 countries. This means that the services of Surfshark are available in more countries than NordVPN.

Here are all the benefits of using the Surfshark VPN:

• Supports a large number of operating systems.
• Blocks invasive ads, malicious websites, and malware.
• Quarterly personal data security reports.
• Notifications to help you know when to change your account passwords to prevent breaches.
• Notifies you if your login credentials are ever compromised
• Has 3200+ servers in 100+ countries for better coverage.
• Multihop feature to connect to two servers at a time for better security.
• Bypasser to manually select which apps use Surfshark VPN.
• Kill switch to instantly turn off the internet if your VPN connection faces any problems

You can get the Surfshark VPN now for your Windows PC, MacBook, iOS, and Android smartphone now.

Yup, Google…the brand famously known for showing you n number of ads has a VPN too. The Google One VPN is the most basic and easy-to-use VPN for all Android and iOS users. It costs less than other VPNs and offers enough security for you to surf the internet without any worries. Also, the Google One VPN is one of the fastest VPNs out there, so you do not have to worry about your internet connection getting slower.

Basically, Google One is a subscription-based cloud service that provides you with limited storage space on Google drive. So when you get a subscription for Google One, you also get access to Google’s own VPN.

Here are the benefits of using the Google One service:

• 2TB of Google cloud storage.
• Access to Google Experts to answer any of your questions related to Google products.
• Transferability across up to 5 devices/users.
• Google VPN service.
• Available in almost all countries worldwide.

Make sure to check all the benefits of the Google One service.

The atlasVPN is hands down the best free VPN that you can get on your Windows computer, Mac, iPhone, or Android smartphone. With atlasVPN free version, you get support for 3 different servers at three different locations. Also, your internet speed is not hindered by the atlasVPN.

The atlasVPN also has a premium version for its users that provides tons of extra services at reasonable prices. So this makes the atlasVPN a freemium service. Thus, if you need the best free VPN for your device, look no further than atlasVPN and if you are willing to pay some extra bucks, you would get an arsenal of extra features.

Do not forget to check out the atlasVPN.

These are all the best VPN apps that we would recommend you to use on PC, Mac, Android, and iOS.

Now, let us know what you think about these VPNs in the comments section. More importantly, do you think the Government of India’s new rule is correct? Let us continue the conversation in the comments below.