Are VPNs Legal in UAE?

The online world is far from free. When Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web, he failed to consider that plenty of organizations and governments will find their interests harmed because of the free nature of the internet.

The internet has given us many things. It allows us to communicate freely with other people without paying anything to the mobile network service, learn about almost anything imaginable, watch entertainment content, and so much more.

Benefits of the Internet

Thanks to VoIP services such as Skype and WhatsApp, we can even make calls through the internet without having to pay any fee at all.

Similarly, on the internet, we can watch our favorite games, movies, or any other pieces of content with ease via streaming.

While there was a time when we had to purchase DVD sets or subscribe to set-top boxes to watch our favorite content, such hassles are no longer a requirement to satisfy our ever-growing entertainment needs.

All we need to do today is to make an account on the relevant streaming service, such as Netflix, Hulu, or Hotstar, and enjoy our favorite content on your devices.

Restrictions on the Web

While the internet provides us with loads of conveniences, it also harms the self-interests of many companies and governments. Phone companies, for example, dislike the free nature of VoIP services such as Skype and WhatsApp. Similarly, television studios give out regional licenses, which means that a particular movie or TV show can only be streamed in one region on a specific channel and not another.

Some companies even hold power to force governments into banning certain services that go against their interests. In the UAE, for example, VoIP services like WhatsApp and Skype are banned so that people remain dependent on phone companies to make calls and send messages.

How a VPN helps?

In such scenarios, a VPN can prove incredibly handy to the user. Premium VPN services, such as PureVPN, have thousands of servers in hundreds of different countries. Users can connect to any of these servers by using the VPN client app. What happens then is that your IP address changes from your own location to that of the VPN server you chose.

Now, most websites or any other entity that is monitoring your online activities rely on your IP address to track your physical location. Every location has a different IP address, and the IP address that you have is used to track your own location. But when you change this IP address via a VPN, you can trick websites and entities into thinking that you belong to another location even if you don’t.

This is why VPN companies, such as PureVPN, are beneficial for residents or expats who live in the UAE. With PureVPN, you can use any VoIP service or browse anywhere on the internet without having to suffer from restrictions placed by the UAE government.

Is VPN Legal in UAE?

Let’s move on to the critical question: are VPNs legal in UAE or not. The UAE government did take action against VPN usage in 2016. This is what’s written in the Cybercrime law of the UAE:

“Any person that circumvents the protocol address of the internet by using a delusive address or an address belonging to others or by any other means for the purpose of committing a crime or preventing its discovery shall be punished by imprisonment and a fine not less than (AED 150.000) and not exceeding (AED 500.000) or by any of these punishments.”

The law states that the usage of VPNs for criminal purposes is a punishable offense. Concentrate on the words “criminal.” You may have noticed that VPN usage is only liable for punishment in certain offenses, such as committing a crime or preventing its discovery.

This means that VPN usage can be considered perfectly legal if you’re not using it for a criminal purpose. You can browse anywhere on the web and unlock anything with a VPN in the UAE, but we’d still recommend exercising caution.

Are VPNs legal in your country? Find out now!

PureVPN – The best VPN service for UAE

There are loads of VPN services on the web. Not all of them are reliable or can provide you with the necessary features to unlock everything on the web. If you want to enjoy complete internet freedom, then you need to choose a VPN service that has servers in hundreds of countries across the globe. Only then would you be able to enjoy complete online accessibility.

Furthermore, the VPN servers also need to be perfectly optimized so that you don’t suffer from any speed or buffering issues when making calls or streaming any content online. And a perfect blend of security, privacy, and anonymity is also required to avoid online surveillance or hacking attempts on your device.

This is where PureVPN comes in. Based in Hong Kong, PureVPN is one of the most reliable VPN services available on the market. Operating since 2006, PureVPN has got over 2,000 servers and more than 300,000 in 140 plus countries. This means that you can access the internet how it was meant to be, openly and freely!

Moreover, all these servers are perfectly optimized so that you can enjoy the fastest speeds and zero buffering. And with PureVPN, you also get features that enhance your privacy, security, and anonymity, such as encryption, IP address masking, and internet kill switch, among others. This ensures that all of your online activities remain secure and away from the eyes of cybercriminals and other entities.

Now that you know how to enjoy complete online freedom in the UAE, we hope to see you making the most of the internet!