I'm not quite sure what the appeal of free VPN services are, or why anyone would trust them.
Setting up a VPN server takes very little time. From a default Ubuntu installation you only need to install the OpenVPN Access Server package, visit a web page and add a user.
You can do this from a cloud service provider in a location with favorable privacy laws, like Iceland. I do this with GreenQloud, and just spin up my VPN instance when I'm on an untrustworthy wifi network, behind a corporate firewall, traveling to a country that censors, or whatever. Powered on instances cost little, and powered off nearly nothing. The attack surface is low, as it's usually powered off.
People who wish to be nearly untraceable can use a prepaid credit card for anonymity.
I used a prepaid card to sign up for an AWS account because I'm not comfortable giving them my real one for a "free trial", they accepted it at the time, approx 1 year ago.
In the US and many other places, prepaid cards are not anonymous. IIRC you need ID of some kind to buy them in Germany, for example (similarly for SIM cards)
True, but they are not technically anonymous - you have to provide a name and address. And while the average person will not care, I'm sure an enterprising US district attorney will find a way to pile CFAA and other charges for providing wrong details on a prepaid card if they already are trying to nail you.
You can buy a prepaid card in most local grocery stores in Canada, no personal info required - though you can't buy a prepaid card with a prepaid card.
I always assumed money-laundering was what they were trying to protect against.
At first I figured if it was possible to buy a gift card with a gift card they wouldn't be able to track that very easily / as easily. But then, what about cash. So it does seem like kind of a moot point to me, maybe someone in Finance can explain the reasoning better?
Setting up a VPN server takes very little time. From a default Ubuntu installation you only need to install the OpenVPN Access Server package, visit a web page and add a user.
You can do this from a cloud service provider in a location with favorable privacy laws, like Iceland. I do this with GreenQloud, and just spin up my VPN instance when I'm on an untrustworthy wifi network, behind a corporate firewall, traveling to a country that censors, or whatever. Powered on instances cost little, and powered off nearly nothing. The attack surface is low, as it's usually powered off.
People who wish to be nearly untraceable can use a prepaid credit card for anonymity.