[crispyporkbites]

The P stands for Private so I think privacy would be a part of it somehow.

[Jtsummers]

Private vs public.

VPNs are to allow you to connect to a private network over a public network. They are not about user privacy. Once you hit that private network, privacy is determined by other protocols, not the VPN itself.

[kennywinker]

And the V stands for virtual, which means "almost". So if it's almost private it fits the name.