You Need a VPN Now!
No doubt you have heard of a VPN as an important tool for Internet convenience, privacy, and security.
Whether you see the nonstop commercials of companies like NordVPN, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN or simply see your friends turning on a VPN before accessing the Internet, this tool is becoming increasingly popular!
However, many people do not understand what a VPN really does and why you need to be very careful in choosing a good one!
What a VPN Really Does
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) enables users to send and receive data over a public network as if they were directly connected to the private network with which communication is intended. Essentially, a VPN creates a tunnel that allows communication of private data over a public network!
The originally intended purpose of VPNs is to facilitate workplace interactions where workers are unable to directly connect to the workplace’s private network! A site-to-site VPN connects two networks such as separate office buildings. A remote access VPN connects remote workers to the workplace network.
In the consumer world however, the technology to create VPN tunnels is now used to enhance an everyday user’s Internet experience! A VPN provider establishes a tunnel between a user and one of its VPN servers. This tunnel can protect your Internet activity through various measures.
A VPN can encrypt your connections to the VPN server. While your connections to HTTPS sites are already encrypted with the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, a VPN can increase your security if you connect to HTTP sites or make other insecure connections! Note that in such cases, a VPN only encrypts your connection to its server and not the connection from the server to the site. As such, the threat of local attacks is mitigated but other attacks still remain.
A VPN provider can also provide their own DNS (Domain Name System) instead of the default service provided by a user’s Internet service provider. A DNS service translates the user-friendly domain names to their related IP addresses. Most Internet service providers keep logs of users’ DNS queries, which equate to users’ browsing histories based on the websites they visit! Using a VPN provider’s DNS, Internet service providers do not gain data about your DNS queries as it is managed by another party and encrypted through the VPN tunnel!
A VPN notably changes a user’s IP address to that of the VPN server. A user’s IP address is the numeric identifier of a user’s device on the Internet. Changing a user’s IP address eliminates it as a unique identifier for tracking! Since every user on the given VPN server has the same IP address, trackers cannot identify specific individuals in the crowd. Additionally, trackers gain significantly less information about a user, which will be discussed in the next section.
5 Key Reasons To Use a VPN
Hide Your True IP Address
Your IP address is one of the most commonly used identifiers for tracking! Since your IP address is a unique identifier, it can be used to track you across multiple sites. As long as your device keeps the same IP address, your Internet activity can be correlated. This method can be used to determine which sites and services you use for the purposes of targeted advertising!
Using a VPN neutralizes this method of tracking, but note that it does not make you anonymous despite what many misleading VPN companies and promoters may claim! More sophisticated actors can still track your activity through browser fingerprinting techniques. Stay posted on The FOSS Albatross to learn more about how this works.
Change Your Perceived Location
Your real IP address gives away your real location often down to the city and possibly even more precisely! A multitude of databases collect IP address–location data pairs that can be accessed by big tech companies and governments for tracking. Even if your specific IP address is not in a database, your location can still be estimated based on the similarity of your IP address to other known IP addresses. Your Internet service provider can even be determined.
With a VPN’s IP address, you can mask the information mentioned above! Instead, you can trick sites into believing you are in a different city or country. This change in perceived location can be useful to gain access to georestricted content, such as shows and services! But once again, note that your IP address is not the only way for trackers to identify you and is only one of the most common and convenient.
Bypass Network Restrictions
Your network may restrict access to certain sites or services. On a small scale, these restrictions may exist in educational institutions’ networks or public networks. On a large scale, Internet censorship may be enforced by governments. You can use a VPN to attempt to bypass these restrictions by hiding your traffic and appearing to come from a different IP address!
However, you need to consider whether using a VPN violates the terms of service or laws applicable to you. For everyday users, the possible consequences of being caught using a VPN may not be worth the increased access to content. On the other hand, journalists and activists often use VPNs to grant them freedom of research and online speech.
Hide Your Internet Traffic From Your ISP
As mentioned above, using an encrypted VPN tunnel can hide your Internet traffic from your Internet service provider! Considering that Internet service providers are bound by many laws that require logging and handover to government bodies, users who are concerned about privacy should use a VPN that does not engage in such practices.
Many VPNs are committed to protecting their users’ data and are often based in country jurisdictions that are more protective of user privacy. Trustworthy VPNs also try to limit they collect in the first place so if government bodies request user data, there is not much to hand over! Furthermore, respectable VPNs often fight back against government requests for data that may be considered privacy invasive.
Improve Privacy For Torrenting
Torrenting is a process of uploading and/or downloading content shared among multiple users. Due to the nature of how torrenting works, your IP address is exposed when engaging in the process! Thus, you should use a VPN to protect your identity as privacy-invasive or potentially malicious parties have this opportunity to target you!
Note that torrenting in itself is legal in many jurisdictions, but the distribution of copyright and other restricted material may not be legal. Internet service providers and governments may accuse you of piracy if you are identified torrenting illegal material. This article does not condone illegal activity and is not legal advice.
Recommended VPN Options (and What To Avoid)
A VPN has extensive capabilities with your Internet, so choosing a good VPN is crucial. Make sure your VPN provider is focused on privacy and security rather than simply boasting its convenience. Research multiple VPN providers and read their privacy policies to evaluate whether one is a good choice.
Many VPN providers are in fact worse for your privacy and security compared to being without one at all. VPN providers may collect your IP address, browsing history, location, VPN usage activity, identity through registration information, device information, and other information about your Internet usage through their own trackers or third-party trackers.
Popular proprietary VPN providers are NordVPN, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN. While these VPN providers offer acceptable services and claim to support privacy and security, I believe there are better options in the free and open-source world.
A common misconception is that if a service is free, then the user is the product. This saying is pure and utter nonsense representing a complete misunderstanding of the privacy problem! The core privacy issues present in many services are companies’ lack of value for users’ privacy and services’ lack of transparency for independent auditing. Many FOSS VPN providers address these problems so you do not necessarily have to pay for a good VPN! Furthermore, paid services can also violate a user’s privacy!
My VPN of choice is Proton VPN! The company, Proton AG, is a Swiss company founded on providing privacy-focused alternatives to important online services. Proton VPN has a strict no-logs policy and collects very limited user data. Swiss privacy laws also provide good user protection in the case that governments request user data.
Proton AG’s services are all independently audited for privacy and security. Thanks to the open-source nature of their services, anyone can also check the code for themselves!
Proton VPN has an easy to use graphical user interface that works on multiple platforms with simplicity and reliability! Proton VPN also supports a variety of locations and VPN protocols.
Proton VPN provides a free version to all users who register with an account, which works magnificently for everyday use! Proton VPN also offers several paid plans for users seeking more features.
Proton AG also provides Proton Mail, Proton Calendar, and ProtonDrive. Considering I use these services as well, Proton VPN is a logical choice for convenience and by a party I already trust!
Some other great FOSS VPN options areWindscribe and Riseup/Calyx VPN.
I encourage you to perform your own research on VPN options! Here is a VPN chart by Techlore that provides a good starting point to choosing your VPN.
