Bathroom papers, face masks, and hand sanitizers gained explosive adoption in 2021. However one thing else joined that record of surprising necessities—VPNs.
In response to Atlas VPN, VPN downloads totaled 785 million final yr, almost 3 times the 277 million recorded in 2020. This can be a staggering 184% enhance, and a more in-depth have a look at the information exhibits that cybersecurity is not the one purpose for the surge.
So, what else induced this surge? We’ll discover out under, however first, let’s take a look at the areas with the very best adoption index and focus on what drove them to VPNs.
VPN Adoption Index for 2021
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates topped the record of nations with essentially the most important VPN adoption in 2021, as reported by Atlas VPN. All these nations have some type of web censorship, which entails authorities surveillance and restricted entry to sure web sites or content material.
In Qatar, for instance, residents can not entry web sites that criticize the federal government, provide privateness circumvention instruments, or are associated to pornography and courting.
Equally, the Communications and Info Know-how Fee (CITC) of Saudi Arabia filters the web and blacklists web sites deemed dangerous, unlawful, anti-Islamic, or offensive. Gatekeepers usually take away posts and content material from social media platforms, censoring LGBTQ, anti-religious, anti-government, and pornographic content material.
So, why do customers in these nations use VPNs? Let’s discover out.
VPNs Bypass Strict ISP and Governmental Insurance policies
It is cheap to conclude that customers in these nations primarily use VPNs to bypass website blocks and entry geo-blocked web sites and functions.
Take Nigeria, for instance. In 2021, the federal government restricted Twitter entry as a result of the social media platform eliminated the President’s tweet for violating its guidelines.
The federal government introduced an indefinite Twitter ban on June 4, and by the point the shutdown went into impact the following day, demand for VPN providers had elevated by 1409% in comparison with the identical time the earlier yr.
India is one other nation within the prime 20 that has adopted VPNs to avoid restrictions. In response to Top10VPN, India had 21 web outages in 2021 alone.
The nation additionally holds the document for the longest web blackout in a democratic nation, lasting from August 2019 to March 2020 in Jammu and Kashmir. With such ongoing blatant restrictions, it is no shock that residents are involved about their digital privateness and safety.
VPNs Present Most Privateness and Safety
Aside from masking digital footprints, VPNs additionally assist customers stop monitoring by Large Tech, browsers, and different mass information collectors.
2021 noticed a rise in cybercrime as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, and extra persons are involved about their on-line footprints. Roughly 55% of US respondents in a Security.org survey stated they used VPNs for normal on-line safety in 2021.
VPNs Unlock Entry to Worldwide Content material
Customers can stream geo-restricted media content material utilizing VPNs, that means a viewer in New Zealand might watch native exhibits from the UK, for instance. Streaming numbers soared in the course of the pandemic’s peak in 2020, and whereas the spike subsided in 2021, the demand for streaming content material stays excessive.
In response to a separate survey by Safety.org, roughly one out of each 5 individuals stated they use their VPN to entry content material unavailable within the US.
Will VPN Adoption Proceed to Develop?
Perhaps, possibly not. The explanations for the VPN adoption surge had been largely unprecedented from the information above. Due to this fact, VPN utilization could drop if these circumstances change.
Then again, VPNs could develop into indispensable as a result of privateness and safety are important elements of web use, and VPNs have gotten commonplace instruments for reaching them.
If you wish to improve your on-line safety however aren’t positive about committing to a paid VPN service, check out some free VPNs first earlier than shelling out your hard-earned money.
Learn Subsequent
About The Creator
