4 Unexpected Ways A VPN Protects You Online

VPNs are used around the world to watch movies, series and access services that are blocked in certain countries. 

If you think that the problem of internet censorship is limited to autocratic governments and countries like China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Pakistan, who have state-sanctioned firewalls that block newspapers and other websites, sorry but you’re wrong.

You can live in a comparatively free nation, and old fashioned broadcasting laws will restrict what you can do online. Geo-block your connection to prevent you watching shows.

As an example US, Japanese, Thai, Korean and Australian Netflix all have different content. 

This doesn’t make much sense in a time when the information superhighway and undersea fiber optics should make anything available online to anyone. 

What you might not be aware of is that by using a VPN, you’re not just supercharging your internet connection and unlocking a world of content. A VPN can protect you online too. Let’s look at five ways how it does this.

How Do VPNs Work?

Everyone at least has a rough idea that VPNs route internet traffic through a server in another country – the country that you’d like to browse from – and that tricks the site you’re visiting into thinking you’re located there. 

Without a VPN your traffic travels from your computer to the site you want to visit and back again, directly.

A VPN breaks that chain. The VPN client on your computer collects all the traffic before it leaves your computer, encrypts it, and forwards it to the VPN server. 

Your ISP will transport the traffic to the VPN server, but since the traffic is encrypted they can’t open it up and see the end destination. Once at the server, the traffic is decrypted and the VPN sends it on to its final destination end destination it makes a stop first at your VPN. 

4 Unexpected Ways A VPN Protects You Online

1. VPNs Encrypt Everything Leaving Your Computer

It’s true that most of the internet is already encrypted.
If there’s a padlock in the URL bar, it means encryption is used. A protocol called HTTPs, the s stands for secure, has been gradually replacing HTTP for the last two decades.

Anytime you log into your internet banking, cryptocurrency exchanges, or any account really, this encryption protects you.

A VPN is an additional layer of encryption. On reputable sites you don’t need it, but if you visit questionable sites to watch videos, you know the ones with tons of popups, and local singles in your area, an additional layer of encryption is welcome security. 

Over HTTP all your data is sent as clear text. Anyone sharing your network can use a free and easy tool to eavesdrop on your communications and pick images, passwords, and more straight out of the air. 

2. Protects you on Public WiFI
   

WiFi is typically encrypted, but if it’s set up wrong, outdated or designed to be malicious you could have a problem. 

You can’t control who sets up the public WiFi at your hotel, local cafe or coworking shop. And no way to know if a hacker hasn’t reconfigured it since. 

There’s a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless, that your data is intercepted between your computer and the WiFi router. 

A VPN encrypts all the traffic before it leaves your computer guaranteeing your security on public wifi wherever you are. 

3. Hide what you’re doing online from your ISP

With a VPN, your internet service provider can’t see the websites that you visit. 

Some ISPs collect records of your browsing history either because the government says that they have to or they might sell it on to advertisers. This is far more common in the developing world.

All they can see is that you are sending traffic to a remote server, and they can likely work out it’s a VPN too. 

If the practice of collecting data concerns you, a VPN is a way to confidently browse the web, while feeling secure that no one is tracking you and recording what you do online. 

Some people think that only criminals need to worry about this stuff. That’s not the case. When you trust an ISP to keep records, you also trust them to secure those records from being hacked. 

If there’s a log of every site you’ve visited and your username and password have been exposed even once there’s a greater chance other accounts will be exposed too. 

4. Stop your ISP from throttling and slowing your internet

Some ISPs, typically cheaper ISPs will detect your traffic type. They can tell that it’s torrenting traffic and may choose to throttle or slow down your downloads. An ISP is a business, it is in their best interest to restrict heavy users.

If they don’t and power users congest the network they need to pay more to increase capacity and upgrade. That shouldn’t be your problem. You are a customer, you deserve the speeds and service you paid for. 

A VPN will disguise if you are torrenting or not. Which reduces the chance that you will be throttled. 

5. Hide Your IP address while Torrenting

If you torrent files everyone can see your public IP address. 

It has to work like this or you can’t find people to seed from.

The risk involved with this is that rights holders monitor who is downloading files torrents and forward cease and desist notices to your ISP who will pass it on to you.
This doesn’t happen very often, but when it does it’s a real pain. Rights Holders can pressure you into paying for a commercial license, and threaten you with legal action. If you receive one of these emails, we’d recommend ignoring it completely. 

A VPN solves this problem before it becomes an issue and you never need to worry about it again. 

Let’s Wrap This Up

A VPN is a great way to maintain your online privacy and security. VPNs will hide your public IP address, and anonymise what you’re doing online. Your ISP doesn’t need to know the sites you are visiting. Online privacy isn’t just something criminals need to worry about. When you rely on an ISP to keep records, you’re inadvertently trusting them to keep those records safe. 

While the risks are small, with a VPN the risks don’t exist. If you’re looking for recommendations, SurfShark is pretty good. Click here for an easy VPN download and trial.