How A VPN Secures Your Online Privacy
If there’s one major threat you should fear when you go online, it’s someone breaching your privacy. Even if the world was largely run offline, privacy had always been a major concern. As we the technological age dawned, the fine line that exists between private and public information have begun to blur. Too much perhaps, that it is now a little bit difficult to know where boundaries lie.
Which information should be kept secret?
Which ones should be disclosed?
Don’t people have the right to know about this?
What’s good? What’s bad? What’s proper? What’s taking it too far?
Because of how accessible information has become, more and more people demand their rights to transparency. So exactly what in the world should be kept private?
Okay, so whoa – hold up. We’ve gone in a little too deep on the topic of privacy there. But that’s really how intense people would react whenever their privacy is involved or even worse – threatened. Although each country would define a person’s rights to privacy differently, we know two things for certain:
- Your private life should remain private.
- Your online life should also be kept private.
And this goes for all kinds of people – regardless their status, occupation, or role in society. Heck, even public personalities like Hollywood actors and politicians demand their right to live private lives. Without doubt, privacy remains an inviolable right in the whole wide world – next to freedom, that is.
Online Privacy Threats vs. Offline Privacy Threats
Which among the two do you think is more threatening – online or offline privacy risks?
I’d say online. Unless you’re a super important (or controversial) person to the public eye, securing your offline privacy should be real easy. If you don’t want to let people see what you’re doing, confine yourself in a room. If you want to hide something away from prying eyes, get yourself a safe – renting one is good too.
On the other hand, online privacy is easier to breach and bypass. And when your personal info gets trespassed, you’re in for a lot of trouble (check this article to know what I mean).You can set passwords and firewalls and a lot of other tech security stuff but you can still not sit on your laurels. Why?
The online world is artificial. This means that everything was created by man. Passwords, firewalls, and all the other “whatchamacallits” are all byproducts of humanity’s ingenuity. So if you really think about it deep enough, wouldn’t that put all your cyber data and assets at risk? Anything secured by man’s genius can be unraveled by another’s. And what sets your privacy apart from being trespassed are codes, programs, and algorithms. If even NASA can be hacked by a 15-year-old (see full story here: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119423&page=1), everybody else is truly in danger.
What You Can Do To Secure Your Online Privacy
First of all, let me correct an inaccurate assumption – there is no such thing as complete and total protection when it comes to online privacy. As previously said, greater minds are developed and enhanced each passing day. Every piece of genius will encounter an even greater piece of genius so it is erroneous to say that there is an ultimate or best method in combatting privacy violations.
What you can do though is do everything in your power to lessen the risk. And I tell you, if you insist on securing your online presence, you can drive down the risk factors to a fraction of a percent.
One very efficient way is to get yourself a Virtual Privacy Network or VPN. And this article my friend, will serve as your Fastest VPN Guide.
What’s a Virtual Private Network?
Picture two stations and a train. One station represents you (the user) and the other station represents where you want to go (the online world). The train represents the means to get you there (LAN/WIFI connection). If you go straight to it, bare to the outside environment, you will risk your train getting attacked by terrorists (government, hackers, or gossipers with no life). So what can you do to avoid such a predicament?
Yep, you find another way. As Dory in the popular fish movie “Finding Dory” always says, “There is always another way.”
That other way means going through an invisible tunnel where terrorists have little to no access to. This tunnel represents the VPN network. So basically, what I hope you can get from this analogy, is the way VPN networks “work.” And how they are crucial in helping you maintain a safe, anonymous, and hassle-free presence online.
To simplify the process, here’s a nice diagram:
What Are The Benefits Of Joining A VPN Network?
- You Get Faster Connection Thanks To Stronger Servers
Getting yourself connected to a Virtual Private Network also enables you to access faster servers your host company contracts with. This leads to better surfing experience, faster downloads, less buffer time, and quick uploads. Surely, you will enjoy your time online with a faster network.
- Searches Are Made Anonymously
Also, having a VPN conceals your identity when you go online. Your IP address is overshadowed by that of the IP addresses generated by the VPN for you – mostly to access websites in restricted locations. So assuming that your VPN provider is completely leak-proof, it is safe to say that websites cannot get hold of your real IP address. Leaks are mainly associated with a VPN’s failure to keep your IP address hidden from a restricted location’s website.
If you’re unsure whether your VPN is working properly or not, you can run a quick check on your IP using this websitehttps://www.purevpn.com/what-is-my-ip. You can check the full guide here.
- Encrypt Your Personal Data
To add on to the preceding number, another benefit of using a Virtual Private Network is the encryption of your personal data. Letting your personal data loose on the internet is pretty dangerous. Some people are just too smart – they become evil. If by any chance your data falls into the wrong hands, they can use it in ways that disadvantages you. Also, unencrypted personal data make it an easy prey for the government, hackers, and other third-party organizations.
- Go Beyond Geo Restrictions
Say, you really want to access a certain video. However, your location simply won’t allow you to do as you please. After going this far into the article, you must know by now that there is always something you can do – and that’s to get yourself into a VPN. Upon registering to a Virtual Private Network, you have the freedom to change your IP address according to the location you want which in turn will allow you access geo-specific content. With VPN, you have more surfing freedom. Now isn’t that sweet?