I was reading the Terms of Service for a popular vpn, it says:
This account is to be used exclusively by the account holder and is at no time transferrable to any other parties for any duration of time.
However, this VPN allows for 5 simultaneous connections. Can I reasonably expect to share it without getting banned?
Disclaimer: I used the search function and nobody mentions the fact that it’s against the ToS
EDIT: I’d like to thank you all for your helpful anecdotes. After rethinking it, you guys seem to be very knowledgeable about this. I don’t think the VPN service will be able to tell.
Well the idea of most VPN’s is to protect identity and location.
If they claim they dont track your location, they inherently claim that your location is irrelevant to them and wont impact the service they give you.
Just imagine you use their VPN from home but also from your mobile phone. At that point you are already doing something that technically could look like account sharing to them because the ip that your phone uses to connect to them is probably sitting somewhere very different than your home line.
Share the privacy! I run a review site but its great to hear about a group of friends or co-workers utilising a single VPN service.
The VPN provider have the right to insist the service is used by one indivudual, however if they offer 5+ Simultanious connections and this is not stated as being against any TOS or resulting in a termination of service this should be fine to utilise and run with.
One area to do some ground work on is ensuring the users you’re giving access to are privacy minded and you know the usage. If you have 5 users all streaming or utilizing large amounts of bandwidth this is where the provider has the right to come in and assess your account usage and where problems normally arise.
Thanks, you make good points. Luckily, the people I share with are family and I am already aware of their usage patterns. They are not excessive (not even close) so the VPN provider shouldn’t flag us as a special case.
