The UAE witnessed a substantial increase in the downloads of virtual private network (VPN) applications in 2023. According to the latest Global VPN Adoption Index by Atlas VPN, UAE residents downloaded 1.83 million VPN apps, pushing the total to 6.1 million. This surge marks the highest number of VPN downloads in the UAE in the past four years, even surpassing the figures during the pandemic in 2020.
The report indicates that the VPN adoption rate in the UAE escalated to 61.7 percent last year, positioning the nation as the second highest globally, trailing only behind Qatar with a 69.87 percent adoption rate. This rate reflects the percentage of the population that downloaded VPN services in the year.
Despite the spike in VPN usage, the UAE maintains stringent regulations regarding their use. The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) emphasizes that while using VPNs is legal, employing them for illicit activities or to bypass government-imposed restrictions on websites, calling, gaming applications, and other services is strictly prohibited.
Violations of these regulations are severely penalized under the UAE Decree Law No (34) of 2021, aimed at combating rumors and cybercrimes. Misuse of VPNs, including hiding IP addresses for unauthorized access to blocked services, could result in imprisonment and fines ranging from Dh500,000 to Dh2 million.
Nord Security notes that residents in the UAE and other Gulf countries commonly use VPNs to circumvent restrictions and access various services, including audio-video calls through apps like WhatsApp, Skype, and Facetime, alongside dating apps.
Atlas VPN’s report also highlighted the global landscape of VPN usage, ranking 86 countries based on downloads from 2020 to 2023. The data, sourced from Google Play and Apple App Store, included figures from the 45 most prominent VPN providers.