While there&#x27;s no absolute security, I don&#x27;t blindly trust random links and JPGs. JavaScript code running in Chromium and IE is actually &quot;tethered&quot; by two sandboxes, exactly because we don&#x27;t trust it. Can some evade it? Sure. Is it the same as just trusting a statement in a site? No.<p>As for Google and Microsoft, I <i>don&#x27;t</i> trust them. I give them my info with the expectation that it&#x27;ll be shared with governments and other companies. I use their services <i>despite</i> that.<p>VPNs, on the other hand, are built <i>in order to</i> protect your privacy, so the same reasoning can&#x27;t be applied.<p>As Tor, and beyond the fact that you didn&#x27;t even bother to understand the links you posted (the first it&#x27;s not even about any flaw in Tor), sure, it can be hacked if one manages to control 3000 nodes or have NSA-like capabilities in breaking crypto keys ($1 <i>billion</i> dollar custom-made chips, from your link!).<p>But a VPN doesn&#x27;t even <i>need</i> to be hacked - though they can, and probably with less difficulty than Tor - all the operators need to do is set &quot;log = True&quot; in their configuration files. There is not even a semblance of a protection. It&#x27;s just pinky swearing.