Should we trust free VPNs?

The only reason to use a VPN would be if your company or school requires it to connect to their network.

Otherwise.....despite the fancy advertising, a VPN provides less....not more....protection.....no matter whether it is free or not.

The free VPNs all sell your contact information to other companies, by the way, as do some of the VPNs that are not free.

No. Using a VPN to access the Internet does absolutely nothing to protect your privacy or secure your data.

On top of that, you have to remember that in the case of any "free" service, you are not the customer. You are the product they are selling... let that sink in.

Paid VPN services are no better when it gets right down to it.

As stated above, the only reason to use a VPN is the purpose it was created for. To provide a secure tunnel between your device and a private network such as your employer or school so that you can access resources on that network remotely.

There is a phrase, “If a product is free, you are the product.” That means that if a service a free, you are usually paying with your personal data which they will sell off to advertisers. Which essentially makes you the product they are selling instead of the service you are using. 

As stated, you only need a VPN if your school or work requires it, which is a secure connection between them.

Otherwise, VPN’s are not a secure connection for your device nor personal information.