system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Eli5: How do VPNS work and why are they considered safe? Couldnt the network Im connecting to not just read out all my passwords etc.?
gpt
They aren't more safe than your current browser. Tom Scott has a great video made on it.

The only thing VPN's are good for is to connect to region blocked content and to keep your data away from your ISP's. Although the government would probably still somehow pay the companies to extract data if you were high on the hit list.