Technologies
Best Android VPN 2022
These are the best virtual private networks for protecting your privacy on your Android mobile device.

If you’re an Android user and you don’t want your device or apps to give away your geolocation data around the clock, it’s a good idea to use a reliable and well-tested VPN, or virtual private network. Will having a VPN eliminate all your privacy concerns? Probably not. But the best Android VPN will offer you whole-device protection so that Google can’t see your geolocation, your internet service provider can’t view your browsing history or app use, and your other apps’ owners can’t see what you’re doing outside of their app. And that kind of protection is enough to keep you from being low-hanging fruit in an era of constant surveillance and a growing risk of data breaches.
The most recent trend reports show that Android-specific VPN downloads accounted for about 75% of the mobile VPN surge over the past few years. Over 480 million mobile VPN apps were downloaded around the globe in just 12 months between 2019 and 2020, or 54% more than the year before, according to research firm Top10VPN. While free services accounted for 84% of all mobile VPN downloads, we recommend you avoid using a free Android VPN whenever possible and instead stick with a tried-and-true paid VPN. It’s not about promoting premium services; it’s about safety. In the murky world of VPNs, you truly do get what you pay for.
But if you’re on a tight budget or you just need a temporary VPN on your Android device, we advise you to test-drive one of our recommended providers with a 30-day money-back guarantee. It’s not the same as a permanently free VPN, but most premium VPN providers are more than willing to give you a sample of their goods to prove their service is worthy of a long-haul annual subscription.
While CNET’s directory of the best VPN services ranks these apps and others by how well they held up during the testing and evaluation process, this list specifically focuses on the mobile offerings of each VPN provider. CNET regularly tests and evaluates new VPN apps — so be sure to check back here as new contenders emerge. Here are the best Android VPN options we’ve tested.
Read more: You Need to Be Using a VPN on Your Phone. Here’s How to Set it Up in Under 10 Minutes
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Technologies
AT&T’s $177 Million Settlement Will Pay Victims of Two Huge Data Breaches. Learn Who Qualifies
If your data was leaked in two massive AT&T data breaches, you could be eligible for a payout.

Of the 1,350,835,988 notices sent to subjects of data breaches in 2024, almost a tenth of those came from a hack of AT&T servers in April, according to to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2024 Annual Data Breach Report. The telecom giant now plans to settle a lawsuit for that breach and another in 2019 for a whopping $177 million.
On Friday, June 20, US District Judge Ada Brown granted preliminary approval to the terms of a proposed settlement from AT&T that would resolve two lawsuits related to the data breaches. The current settlement would see AT&T pay $177 million to customers adversely affected by at least one of the two data breaches.
The settlement will prioritize larger payments to customers who suffered damages that are «fairly traceable» to the data leaks. It will also provide bigger payments to those impacted by the larger of the two leaks, which began in 2019. While the company is working toward a settlement, it has continued to deny that it was «responsible for these criminal acts.»
For all the details we have about the settlement right now, keep reading, and for more info about other recent settlements, find out how to claim Apple’s Siri privacy settlement and see if you’re eligible for 23andMe’s privacy breach settlement.
What happened with these AT&T data breaches?
AT&T confirmed the two data breaches last year, announcing an investigation into the first in March before confirming it in May and confirming the second in July.
The first of the confirmed breaches began in 2019. The company revealed that about 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former account holders had their data exposed to hackers, including names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth. The company first began investigating the situation last year after it reported that customer data had appeared on the dark web.
The second breach began in April of 2024, when a hacker broke into AT&T cloud storage provider Snowflake and accessed 2022 call and text records for almost all of the company’s US customers, about 109 million in all. The company stressed that no names were attached to the stolen data. Two individuals were arrested in connection with the breach.
Both of these incidents sparked a wave of class action lawsuits alleging corporate neglect on the part of AT&T in failing to sufficiently protect its customers.
How will I know if I’m eligible for the AT&T data breach settlement?
As of now, we know that the settlement will pay out to any current or former AT&T customer whose data was accessed in one of these data breaches, with higher payments reserved for those who can provide documented proof that they suffered damages directly resulting from their data being stolen.
If you’re eligible, you should receive a notice about it, either by email or a physical letter in the mail, sometime in the coming months. The company expects that the claims process will begin on Aug. 4, 2025.
How much will the AT&T data breach payments be?
You’ll have to «reasonably» prove damages caused by these data breaches to be eligible for the highest and most prioritized payouts. For the 2019 breach, those claimants can receive up to $5,000. For the Snowflake breach, the max payout will be $2,500. It’s not clear at this time how the company might be handling customers who’ve been affected by both breaches.
AT&T will focus on making those payments first, and whatever’s left of the $177 million settlement total will be disbursed to anyone whose data was accessed, even without proof of damages. Because these payouts depend on how many people get the higher amounts first, we can’t say definitively how much they will be.
When could I get paid from the AT&T data breach settlement?
AT&T expects that payments will start to go out sometime in early 2026. Exact dates aren’t available right now. The recent court order approving the settlement lists a notification schedule of Aug. 4 to Oct. 17, 2025.
The deadline for submitting a claim is currently set at Nov. 18, 2025. The final approval of the settlement needs to be given at a Dec. 3, 2025, court hearing in order for payments to begin.
Stay tuned to this piece in the coming months to get all the new details as they emerge.
For more money help, check out CNET’s daily tariff price impact tracker.
Technologies
RFK Jr. Announces All Americans Need Health Tracking Devices: Here Are the Pros and Cons
The US Health Secretary plans a huge campaign to encourage health wearables: CNET knows exactly the kind of devices he’s talking about, and why accuracy may be a problem.

Many Americans already track health statistics like heart rate and sleep cycles on app-connected accessories. Now the federal government wants to jump in. On June 24, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced «one of the largest HHS campaigns in history» to encourage the use of wearables to track health conditions, a trend CNET has recently covered.
Kennedy is referring to the many different bands, watches and even clothes that use technology to track human vital signs. CNET’s reviewers have spent years testing devices like these, seeing how rings monitor health signs, straps track your heart health and the right devices lead to better sleep.
The latest version of the Apple Watch, for example, has sensors designed to detect heart rate, heart rhythm issues, falls, sleep health, sleep apnea, temperature, breathing rate and more. The newest Oura Ring can track sleep patterns, menstrual cycles, temperature, heart rate and other health details.
«We think that wearables are a key to the MAHA agenda, Making America Healthy Again ,» Kennedy told the Subcommittee on Health during its budget meeting. «My vision is that every American is wearing a wearable within four years … they can see what food is doing to their glucose levels, their heart rates and a number of other metrics as they eat it.»
Kennedy also tweeted that «wearables put the power of health back in the hands of the American people.»
«Wearables,» however, is a broad term encompassing everything from fitness devices that count steps to sleep trackers you wear at night. And consumer devices can’t easily replace monitoring solutions offered by medical professionals.
For example, CNET has covered research indicating that even the best-in-class Apple Watch struggles with accuracy from metrics like steps to heart rate. Another study from California State Polytechnic University has shown that fitness-related Fitbit trackers show high inaccuracies as well. In fact, that research was used in a related Fitbit lawsuit.
Speaking of glucose monitors, Kennedy isn’t the only White House official with an interest in such health sensors. The administration’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, co-founded glucose-monitoring company Levels and sells a monitoring app as well as other wellness products.
Finally, CNET wellness experts remind everyone that wearables aren’t always a good fit. Those suffering from eating disorders or body image issues should always talk to an expert before using wearables, as they can exacerbate certain issues or lead to a unhelpful outlook.
The US Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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