Privacy seems elusive in today's world, especially pertaining to our most sensitive information. If you watch porn, you probably want to shield yourself from prying eyes of advertisers, your internet service provider — or even your government.
As of November 2025, around half of the United States and several countries, including the UK and France, have enacted age-verification laws. Typically, these laws require visitors to sites containing explicit content to input personal data (like a government ID or facial scan) to access that material. To get around these laws, many people are using VPNs — if spikes in searches for them in areas that passed these laws are to be believed.
A VPN, or virtual private network, masks your current location, and there are plenty available, free or paid, as apps or browser extensions.
These networks are easy to use, but should you use a VPN to watch porn? The answer is complicated.
VPNs aren't "an anonymity cloak," said Yael Grauer, investigative tech reporter at Consumer Reports, despite what their marketing may say. The reality is, some scenarios are best suited for other web security tools — and it's actually possible that a VPN can weaken your safety.
How do VPNs work?
Rindala Alajaji, a legislative activist at the digital civil liberties nonprofit, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), compares VPNs to a P.O. box. If you send a letter and put a P.O. box as the returning address, the recipient won't know exactly where it came from. Similarly, if you visit a website using a VPN, that website won't know exactly where you are.
VPNs are a privacy and security tool that protects you in three key ways according to Haych Li, former vice president at ExpressVPN.
One is that VPNs encrypt your internet traffic and data. When this information is unencrypted, anyone in the chain between you and the destination (say, a porn site) can potentially see it. An example is the owner of a WiFi hotspot you use at a coffee shop. With a VPN, however, your traffic can't be seen by that intermediary.
Secondly, VPNs encrypt DNS (Domain Name System) requests. Li compared DNS to a phonebook. A DNS request is like looking up a number in the phonebook — you're asking your computer to find something, like a website.
The third tactic is that VPNs mask your IP address, which is a unique number connected to your device and linked to your location. Computers need IP addresses in order to communicate with each other and know "where" to send information. When using a VPN, you replace your actual IP address with the VPN's address.
"A VPN concentrates on hiding your real IP address," explained Chris Hauk, consumer privacy champion at online privacy blog Pixel Privacy, "while also encrypting your internet connection so third-parties can't easily track you simply by monitoring your connection.”
Is VPN safe for private browsing?
Know that any VPN won't make you totally anonymous. Sites can track you in ways besides your IP address. For example, a site's cookies (a file on your computer that tracks your activity) or other trackers will still be there even if you use a VPN, said Jon Callas, former director of technology projects at EFF.
Further, some VPN companies have reported to log their user traffic, a cybersecurity expert focused on data privacy for high-profile executives told Mashable. This is typically done by "free" VPNs that generate revenue by selling traffic data to targeted media companies. "Most higher-end, paid VPNs are safe and have a 'no logging' policy, which is vetted by third parties in some cases," the expert said.
Browser fingerprinting is yet another way you can be followed online. This method logs data like your browser, operating system, screen resolution, and language.
Further, your browsing history will still exist if you use a VPN, Callas explained. If you paid for anything, the site has your payment information as well.
When choosing whether to use a VPN, ask yourself what you want to protect yourself from, said Grauer. This is to discern whether a VPN is actually the best option.
Here are two instances Grauer said they could be useful for porn viewing:
To bypass a firewall (say, on hotel WiFi that blocks porn sites)
If you're worried about your ISP (internet service provider) seeing and potentially selling your data, as VPNs hide your info from your ISP
Grauer herself isn't concerned with the latter point. "There's a lot of people that look at porn," she said, "so personally, I don't feel the need to hide that I look at it…from my internet service provider."
What about snooping family or roommates? Clearing your browser history may be your best bet — or even investing in a screen filter so no one physically around you can see what you're browsing. Using an Incognito window, which doesn't log history, may help too, but keep in mind that sites can still track you.
If loved ones or your building management have access to your WiFi and are savvy enough, however, they can potentially access your data. In that case, a VPN could help, Li explained, as it reroutes your traffic.
Callas agreed. "If the threat is 'I don't want my apartment building to know what porn I watch,' a VPN works," he said.
VPNs enable free speech in some areas as well, said Li. Should you live in a country where queer sex and thus queer porn is illegal, a VPN could mask your IP from the government. Grauer wouldn't rely on one in these severe instances, however, as VPNs can fail. She recommended people in these circumstances instead contact human rights organizations to figure out what security steps to take, as technology, laws, and government practices are ever-changing.
If the specific VPN you use doesn't have a "kill switch," which shuts off your internet connection if it's not working, then authorities — or whomever else — could potentially see your traffic. Check if your VPN has a kill switch either in the features rundown on the company's website, or in the VPN settings.
Is using a VPN illegal in the U.S.?
No, VPNs are legal in the U.S. and many other countries. This isn't the case everywhere, though. ExpressVPN has a list of countries where VPN use is illegal.
In Wisconsin and Michigan, however, bills have been introduced to ban VPNs. The children's commissioner for England said that VPNs were a "loophole" to the area's age-verification law that "needs closing."
In an EFF blog post about VPN bans, Alajaji wrote about Wisconsin's proposed demand to "block VPN users" from the state — and how that's technically impossible.
"The technology just doesn't work that way," she wrote. "Websites subject to this proposed law are left with this choice: either cease operation in Wisconsin, or block all VPN users, everywhere, just to avoid legal liability in the state."
Due to age-verification laws, Pornhub has ceased operation in 22 states as of this publication. Should VPNs become banned in Wisconsin or elsewhere, a similar domino effect could take place.
VPNs and age-verification laws
Different experts offer varying advice on whether to use VPNs when in a location with age-verification laws that require submitting personal data to view complying porn sites. (And none of this is legal advice.)
"As a cybersecurity professional, I will not help anyone, including a client, bypass the law," founder and CEO of Solace Truly Personal Cybersecurity, Paul Pioselli, told Mashable. "From a privacy perspective, however, I do encourage clients to understand the risks they face when visiting sensitive websites, including the trail of data that their Internet Service Provider, ad networks, and data brokers can collect about them."
"While using a VPN can help obscure an individual's location and improve privacy, no tool, including a VPN is a magic shield against the law," Pioselli continued.
Data privacy expert and CEO of Privacy Bee, Harry Maugans, however, told Mashable that using a VPN is an option. In his view, the internet is supposed to be a free domain for people to go wherever they want and use it how they want to use it — and that these laws shouldn't exist.
"If people need to use a VPN to bypass a law that probably shouldn't be legal in the first place, I think more power to them," Maugans said. "They absolutely should."
Not all VPNs are made equal
"Some [VPNs] are more trustworthy than others," said Grauer, who tested 16 VPNs along with her team in 2021. In its evaluation, Consumer Reports focused on characteristics like whether a VPN company conducted third-party security audits, and whether the company itself held customer information — as opposed to ease of use and cost. This takes into account what security experts look for in a platform.
Grauer found that most VPN companies fell short in terms of exorbitant ad claims (like that they provide "military-grade encryption," which isn't a real term or standard of protection) and poor privacy practices such as selling user data. A few, however, had truthful marketing and better policies like security checks by outside companies: IVPN, Mozilla VPN, and Mullvad VPN.
Hauk doesn't recommend free VPNs as they sometimes sell data, or even insert their own tracking cookies into a user's browser settings. If your goal is to stop your ISP from seeing and selling your data, a free VPN could do exactly what you're trying to prevent.
Each VPN is different, so when looking for one, check if and how they collect user data.
What should you not use a VPN for?
"VPNs can be used as a security tool, a privacy tool, or in some niche cases such as an investigative report, obfuscating digital signature," the anonymous cybersecurity expert explained.
Here are some examples where a VPN isn't necessary, according to the expert:
If an employer has a corporate VPN for individual use, a secondary VPN isn't needed.
In your own home. "Some experts might disagree with this, but if the home has a secure network with no unknown devices, the VPN has little use as a security tool," the expert said. "However, if there are privacy concerns regarding what websites can see your IP address and general location, then using a VPN has [a] benefit."
Helpful privacy measures besides VPN
A VPN isn't the end-all of security; other tools could better help with various issues.
If you're worried about advertising trackers on porn sites following you throughout the web, Grauer recommends a tracker blocker like Privacy Badger, created by EFF, or uBlock Origin.
Should you be concerned about malware, try one of the many malware removal and protection services on the market.
Another tool is a privacy-focused browser. Brave is Hauk's favorite, as it blocks third-party tracking cookies and ads by default and randomizes your fingerprint, along with similar protections.
Additionally, Hauk singled out the latest versions of Apple's Safari as it offers privacy and anti-tracking features alongside the introduction of macOS Monterey, like tracker blocking.
Opera also has excellent protections, said Hauk, like its own VPN. "Users should keep in mind though that the Opera VPN only protects the user's in-browser activity," he noted. "The rest of your online activity, such as from apps like P2P torrenting apps, is still left out in the open."
Grauer mentioned Google Chrome, as Google has a robust security team, though you need to specifically opt out of Google tracking your data.
So, should you use a VPN to watch porn?
Are you concerned about your internet service provider, housemates, or building manager accessing your data? Then yes — a VPN would help. Furthermore, if you're in a hotel or somewhere that has a firewall up for porn sites, a VPN can also circumvent that.
Remember, however, that not all VPNs are the same. Take a look at their fine print to see if they're going to collect or sell your data. If a privacy policy doesn't explicitly state that the company won't sell your data, that could be a red flag.
Read specific porn sites' terms of service and privacy policies to see how exactly they'll track you, too, Grauer said. According to Pornhub's privacy policy, for example, the site tracks IP addresses and sets cookies, which have the potential to collect information about your site usage. If your VPN works properly, your IP address will be hidden — but you'll need another tool to take care of the cookies.
Ultimately, a VPN won't make you invisible to porn sites nor others. There are, however, additional services like tracker blockers that can make your experience that much more private.
Our top 3 VPN picks:
Learn more about the best VPNs for staying anonymous on the web.
Update: This article was originally published in 2022 and updated in November, 2025, amid the enaction of age-verification laws in the U.S. and other countries. It contains interviews from 2022 as well as 2025.
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