Why I Don’t Blindly Trust Google’s ‘Verified’ Badge When Shopping for VPNs
A little check can do a lot of work. When Google marks a VPN as “verified,” it feels like a discreet assurance that someone has taken a serious look and signed up. In a crowded market full of bold claims and small print, this badge becomes an easy shortcut for people who just want something that feels secure.
Very few users are able to verify what a what does a VPN do. Reading code, inspecting traffic, or evaluating a security assessment is out of reach for most people. Privacy policies are lengthy and often written to protect the company more than to inform the user. In practice, this leaves visible cues like badges, rankings, and reviews that do most of the work.
A badge issued by Google carries particular weight because it comes from the platform itself, not the VPN company’s marketing claims. This is really important when the chosen product is supposed to offer protection, and this is exactly why trust signals are most important when users can’t realistically verify things for themselves.
The problem is that the verification often seems broader and more definitive than it actually is, but it is not an in-depth analysis of how the VPN works, nor a promise of how it will behave tomorrow.
What the Google Badge actually is and what it is not
VPNs that have passed Google’s security checks may display a “verified” badge in the Google Play app store.
Google says its “verified” VPN badge on Google Play is intended to help users sort the safest apps from the noise. The idea is that if a VPN bears the badge, it cleared a higher bar than the average listing and showed some willingness to adhere to Google’s security and privacy policies.
To earn the Google Verified badge, VPNs must complete a Level 2 Mobile App Security Assessment, or MASA. This means the app undergoes a formal assessment and must meet Google’s minimum security and privacy standards. A VPN needs at least 10,000 installs, a few hundred reviews, and a history on the Play Store before it can even be considered.
Google reported the first recipients as NordVPNhide.me and Aloha Browser as examples of what the program is supposed to highlight. Publicly, the badge is framed around privacy, security and trust. The message is that these apps have gone further than necessary and deserve a little more trust from users. On paper, this seems reasonable. The badge is presented as a shortcut for users who want to be assured that a VPN has been reviewed and meets a defined set of standards.
The problem is that Google’s verification primarily measures application-level security practices, not deeper questions that actually define VPN reliability. A MASA review can check whether an application meets certain technical standards and disclosure requirements, but it doesn’t answer whether a vendor actually keeps no logs, who ultimately owns the company, how its infrastructure is managed, or what pressures it may face behind the scenes. These issues tend to be the biggest, and they fall well outside of what a platform badge can realistically check for.
As a result, while a Google verification badge can be a useful starting point, there are other things to consider beyond that. For example, you will want to make sure your VPN has been audited by a reputable third party, consider jurisdictionknow who owns this VPN company and review the privacy policy before signing up. Platform reviews should be viewed as snapshots rather than ongoing assessments. And when an app or extension is reviewed on Google Play or the Chrome Web Store, Google reviews a specific version at a specific time. What happens later is largely out of reach.
A “verified” badge means that an app met certain standards during the review process. This does not mean that the application is constantly monitored or that its behavior will never change. The badge reflects one’s compliance at the time of examination, not a permanent seal of good conduct, and it might still be possible for one Shady VPN to always earn a Google verification badge.
Why this is more important for VPNs than most apps
While the Google Play Store’s verified badge is a good start, you’ll want to do more research before downloading a VPN.
VPNs are in a different position than most apps. When one of them is active, all of the user’s Internet traffic passes through it. This gives the VPN visibility into browsing activity, location signals, and network behavior that few other apps see. People may be trying to avoid tracking, to protect themselves Public Wi-Fi or keep their online activity private from service providers or governments. In these situations, a VPN is entrusted with data that users would not willingly transmit elsewhere.
The promise of privacy that VPNs offer makes trust failures even more serious. A VPN can expose your personal data in a single pass. If the service behaves in ways users expect, such as logging data or leaking your Internet activity, the damage is far-reaching and not limited. This is why privacy tools should receive closer scrutiny.
Although VPN apps leak information in many places, that doesn’t mean users always leave more informed. What users see depends heavily on where they look and how much effort they are willing to expend. Here is an example:
| Where users can see it | What this tends to show | Why this creates confusion |
|---|---|---|
| Store Lists | General statements regarding privacy, security and trust | Designed to encourage installations, not explain trade-offs |
| Consent Prompts | High-level language on data use and protection | Easy to click, often worded in reassuring terms |
| Privacy Policies | Detailed explanations of data collection | Long, technical and rarely read in its entirety |
Each item here may be accurate on its own, but the overall picture can still be misleading. A store page can emphasize privacy while downplaying how data is actually processed. A consent prompt can qualify the collection as protective. The privacy policy may state things clearly, but only for users willing to access it.
A Reality Check of the Browser Extension Ecosystem
KOI Security’s research provides a useful check on how much faith platform badges deserve. The study focused on browser extensions instead of mobile VPN appsbut the lesson applies to both: approval signals don’t always match user expectations.
KOI documented how Urban VPN, a browser extension with millions of users, passed the verification exam and earned a badge on the Google Chrome Web Store. On paper, it presented itself as a privacy tool. Behind the scenes, it collected sensitive user data, including AI chat conversations, and sent this data to third parties for profit. This happened regardless of whether the VPN feature was enabled or not.
The gap between what a Google-verified badge looks for and other critical privacy and security components is significant. A privacy-focused extension did the opposite, while a badge suggested it had been verified and could be trusted. For many users, this badge probably carried more weight than the fine print.
This is not an argument that mobile VPN apps behave the same way. The biggest problem is that platform reviews tend to focus on what is easiest to verify rather than what users actually need to know. A badge may signal that an app has passed a checklist or completed a formal review, but verification says very little about who runs the service, how aggressively it monetizes data, or whether its privacy claims stand up to real scrutiny. When verification focuses on simple technical compliance rather than deeper accountability, users can walk away with a level of confidence that the badge was never designed to guarantee.
How I Really Rate the Reliability of a VPN
To ensure you have a legitimate VPN, go beyond the badge and look for transparency reports, check third-party audits without logs, investigate company ownership, understand jurisdiction, read the privacy policy, and read reviews.
A verification badge means something to me. This tells me that a VPN has done the minimum required to pass a platform review. This doesn’t make sense. It shows a basic effort and level of engagement with the rules of the platform. What it doesn’t tell me is how the service will behave over time.
What carries more weight to me are things that can be verified over time. Independent security audits with published results are important because they allow for external review. Clear ownership and a simple business model are important because incentives shape behavior. A solid history, without buried data practices or privacy incidents that had to be uncovered by researchers or journalists, matters more than any label.
I also look closely at the update histories. VPNs are updated, so transparency about what these updates do and why they exist is important. Discreet changes in data collection or basic behavior can be major red flags, especially for a product built on trust. To me, badges are a data point. They can help narrow the field, but they never make the decision alone.
