Countries where usage of VPNs is limited 2025

In 2025, the usage of VPNs was still restricted or illegal in many countries. Belarus, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Turkmenistan were countries where the use of VPNs was illegal. VPNs are designed to extend a network securely from a private location, such as a business or home, across a public network as if the networks were directly linked. VPNs are popular among consumers for obfuscating their location, whether to access geo-blocked services or bypass censorship or other restrictions. Among enterprises, VPNs are often set up to allow employees to access corporate intranets while traveling or working from home.