Having a VPN used to be something for the very technologically minded people, for people who lived abroad and wanted to watch TV from their home country and for businesses to have their own network. Today, VPN technology is becoming more of a ‘must-have’ for anyone going online, and this is largely because of concerns around online privacy. There are also concerns over the regulations such as the Investigatory Powers Act in the UK, or the legislation that was passed in the US that allows ISPs to sell user data. If you haven’t got one already, then here are a few reasons why you might want to look into it. You should also make sure you research so that you can find the best VPN for your needs:
Secure Messaging
We don’t just communicate via emails and text messages now, but there’s WhatsApp, Skype and Snapchat and not all of these are encrypted, and therefore any messages they can be intercepted and read. To keep these messages and conversations secure and private, you can put them through a VPN to provide a higher level of security.
Online gaming
Using a VPN to play an online game means that you have anonymity and can keep your account credentials safe and secure. It can also be used to overcome geo-blocking restrictions so that you can still play while you are travelling. A VPN can also increase your level of protection against DDoS attacks.
Secure Public Wi-Fi
When out and about free Wi-Fi is great and has become an important and popular commodity that we all enjoy so that we don’t use up our whole smartphone data plan. However, public Wi-Fi can also be fraught with hazards, so if you use a VPN with a modern encryption protocol, it will help protect you and your data.
Stop Google Tracking
Google seeks to track what every user does online, including searching their Gmail accounts to better target ads, as well as this Google has plenty of mined data from other sources, but a VPN allows you to stop Google from doing this and to take back control of their privacy. Without a VPN, you are now tracked in just about everything you do online thanks to Google’s suite of products such as Gmail, search, the G Suite apps, and the Chrome browser.
Research Without A Trace
Sometimes its important to search and research without being seen who you are, for example, if your company wants to look at the available jobs or policies at a competitor, then they don’t want the competitor to know this and would rather do it without revealing your IP address, especially if this is done from your place of work. A VPN is very useful in these cases, as you will be assigned a totally different IP address, and can also choose to be in a geographically different place for an additional element of safety.
Take control of your privacy
A VPN has become a necessity now to keep your online activities private. Email and cloud storage accounts have the potential to be compromised and are a ripe target for hackers, but using a VPN can protect against this.
Great info as I’m in the process of looking for a VPN right now.