State Duma Deputy Anton Nemkin has cautioned that while VPN services are used for online privacy, they do not guarantee complete anonymity and may pose their own risks, including collecting user data.
Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, highlighted in an interview that VPN services encrypt internet traffic but do not make a user “invisible.” He emphasized that these services themselves could potentially gather and sell information about user activities.
Nemkin further pointed out that VPNs offer no defense against threats like phishing attacks, viruses, malicious browser extensions, or Trojans that might infect a device from external sources.
According to the deputy, many users mistakenly equate VPN usage with total anonymity, leading them to make critical security errors. Such mistakes include accessing personal accounts via public VPNs, saving passwords in browsers, and neglecting to delete cookies. These actions, he noted, effectively cancel out any privacy benefits gained from traffic encryption.
Separately, the Ministry of Digital Development is reportedly planning to establish consistent regulations for VPNs operating in Russia. Maksut Shadayev, the ministry head, mentioned a rising volume of traffic handled by VPNs, alongside Roskomnadzor`s ongoing efforts against services failing to meet Russian legal requirements.
