I've gone into more detail on what can go wrong with HTTPS here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5515967 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5515967 True

I've gone into more detail on what can go wrong with HTTPS here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5515967 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5515967 True, you have to trust your VPN provider, but at the end of the day you have to trust someone, including the many certificate authorities on which HTTPS relies. But a good VPN provider is way more trustworthy than the types of networks you encounter when traveling. You should still check for SSL when using a VPN but you don't need to be as vigilant about it. This is beside the point, but VPNs really don't provide anonymity. Many VPN services log and comply with court orders. Some VPN providers claim to not keep logs but you have no way of knowing if that's true. If you need anonymity you use Tor.