VPNs have been in the news recently

A small number of MPs in the UK are claiming for VPN services on expenses.

VPNs are useful because they can encrypt internet to make it secure and a handful of MPs have paid for VPN services in the UK.

According to research by Tom’s Guide only nine of 650 UK MPs are claiming for a VPN on expenses and the most popular is NordVPN with five choosing the service. 

They include Labour MP Jonathan Reynolds, who claimed £80.68 for a two-year NordVPN subscription, Labour MP Alex Sobel claiming £83.99 for a one-year option and Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris, who paid £120.53 for NordVPN in the most expensive claim.

Tom’s Guide suggests the MPs are not always choosing the cheapest option when it comes to VPNs, which have become increasingly popular because of the security they provide when you are browsing the internet and the ability to set your location to other countries to access streaming services.

NordVPN offers a VPN service for up to ten devices. The basic VPN is available for £2.79 a month and that gets you the standard VPN service. You can pay £3.49 per month and that includes advert tracker blocker. The Ultimate package includes £5.49 and adds 1tb of cloud storage.

A longer subscription costs from £60 for two years for the basic package and around £80 for the Plus package. 

However there are cheaper options if you want a basic VPN. ProtonVPN offers a free service that limits your internet stream and the country servers you can connect to but it is completely free for the basic package. You can get that here. 

VPNs have been in the news in recent times because they can used to bypass the Online Safety Act. While VPNs are not illegal, using them to bypass the Act is illegal.

Instead, VPN usage can be used to provide extra security for your internet connection and view streaming services for other countries.

For example if you are abroad you can use a VPN to view your streaming subscriptions or UK TV by using a VPN service.