What is a VPN?
A virtual private network (VPN) acts as a middle man between your devices and the Internet. It encrypts all the data coming from your device before sending it over through one of their servers in another location. In doing so, a private VPN not only hides your actual IP address but also makes it seem like you’re browsing from another location. A VPN does a good job of keeping you away from the prying eyes of online eavesdroppers, your ISP, advertisers, or even the government. A private VPN connection also offers unlimited downloading, WiFI privacy, unlimited HD video with fast connections, multiple device protection, router support, user-friendly apps, and more. Setting up usually takes no more than 5 minutes and you will have access to hundreds of servers located in different countries around the world.
Why You Need a VPN
Improved security is only one of the reasons to use a VPN. A VPN will hide your IP address, making you invisible online to everyone from your ISP to Google. You can surf the web anonymously and bypass many content restrictions. Of course, there are many legitimate reasons to want to do this. For instance, you can access content that is not available in your location including movies, music, educational materials and e-books.
Does a VPN Hide Your Location?
Yes. The biggest trace to your location is your IP address. Because a good VPN will change your IP address, your location becomes more difficult to find. Its not impossible, of course, depending on your web activity. Also, if you don’t use a kill switch, you might unwittingly expose your IP address and location in a matter of seconds.
Is a VPN Legal?
Yes, they are completely legal. Almost all Fortune 500 companies even use VPN clients to protect their internal data and allow remote employees the ability to log on to private work networks.
What Do VPNs Protect Against?
To understand what a VPN protects you against, you need to understand all the threats.
ISP’s sell your data to third parties.
If you use the ISP without a VPN, you risk the ISP logging your online activity and then selling it off to a corporation. Why would they sell your surfing activity? Well, companies love to understand your shopping behavior, your likes and dislikes, who you talk to, which sites you browse. Your information is valuable, so for an ISP, it’s big business to sell it.
DNS/IP Leaks
Want a hacker to know where you live? It’s not hard if your IP gets leaked because you accidentally click on a nefarious website. It happens way more than you think. If you are using a VPN, they IP they see won’t be yours, nor where you are located.
Malware
If you’ve ever had malware, it might be because you weren’t using a VPN. Malware hijacks your computer either at the root processing level or at the browser level. Suddenly, your inundated with ads and being tracked 24/7. The only way to remove malware is to reinstall your OS. And I’ve even heard of cases of that not working to remove it.
Hackers
Hackers are sly beings. They are sophisticated and intelligent in their approach to stealing your data and belongings. Point being, a VPN will certainly put up a lot of obstacles that make the hacker’s job much harder. That alone likely means the hacker moves on to easier prey.
Does a VPN See My Data?
This is always a big question. If you simply reroute your online activity away from an ISP to a VPN, would not the VPN take the role of the ISP and sell your data? The answer is, not of your using a trusted VPN. VPN’s make their money by having no-logging policies. This means they never store your online activity. Our site does not, and will not, include VPNs that log your browsing history… ever.
Can I Use a VPN on Any Device?
Yes, you can use a VPN on pretty much any device. The best VPN services work across all popular devices, including PCs, Macs, iPhones and Android smartphones. All it takes is one click, and you are good to go.
Conclusion
A VPN helps protect your online surfing activity and personal data from 3rd party companies, hackers, and malware attempts. The top VPN services anonymize your existence by concealing your IP address. You can typically choose from 1000s of servers located across the globe. You can download torrents anonymously and use streaming services anywhere in the world. When you fail to use a VPN, you expose your IP and inherently, your exact location. This gives your ISP the ability to log all of your browsing history and resell it, or worse, turn it over during a subpoena (or even less). If you still don’t have a VPN, get one now, you won’t regret it.