Use a VPN to protect your money and privacy while you watch blocked content. Avoid censorship or tracking.
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Why Use a VPN? VPN is short for virtual private network, to protect your private messages sensitive data emails and money while you use the Internet. A VPN is software or an app downloaded to your laptop, phone, computer, or tablet to protect the data it sends and receives. This software works by encrypting data as it leaves your devices and travels the internet to its final destination. Even if you are using an Internet connection that seems safe, like that found at your workplace, anyone can intercept what you are doing online if it is not encrypted by a VPN app.
Using a VPN can protect your money, even while doing something quick and simple like shopping online, is an opportunity for hackers or other unauthorized personnel to steal your password or payment card information.
What is a VPN?
VPNs were originally developed to allow employees to securely connect to their corporate offices and servers. This is still one of the primary reasons of why to use a VPN. They are sometimes referred to as a “secure tunnel” or simply tunnel. VPNs are used to encrypt data as it is transmitted from a laptop computer phone or tablet all the way to its destination. Although they were mainly used by IT personnel and enterprise-level employers, VPNs are now used for everything from accessing email, shopping online, or anytime you need to log in to an online account. VPNs are especially handy when they are used to block websites, apps, and social media from tracking your online behaviors and using it to sell annoying advertising
Why Should I Use a VPN?
Use a VPN to protect your privacy online at all times. This means protecting any information that you send across WiFi or any Internet connection. When you use the internet, even if you’re just logging into social media, your device is sharing information about itself, your location, and what websites you access. Your ISP or anyone who shares that same internet connection may also see what you looked at and shared.
if you use public WiFi connections in retail stores, coffee shops, hotels, or airports anything that you do online including logging into social media, reading emails, sending private messages conversations through messaging apps, and shopping online can be intercepted by hackers or other unauthorized persons. Cybercriminals will monitor public WiFi connections with cheap software they buy online and use it to steal your usernames, passwords, banking credentials, and credit card numbers. This can all be done by infecting a router or device with a computer virus or malware.
Some countries block internet access to websites, social media, or other online content. They do this by tracking your IP address and restricting what you can see and do online. This may be done for political, religious, or moral reasons. Using a VPN to bypass censorship will let you access websites and content that is restricted or monitored.
Example Cases of Why Use a VPN
- Watch Blocked Sporting Events – Professional sporting events are often blocked for viewers within certain geographical regions. A paid VPN service like IPVanish or NordVPN will let you choose a server in any city so you can watch your favorite games again.
- Bypass geographic restrictions on websites – Sometimes websites show different content (like local currencies or language versions) based on your physical location or they may block your access altogether using a VPN will allow you to select your location by choosing a server in another city or country that way you’ll be able to access block websites.
- Watch blocked Netflix shows – Use a VPN to access blocked streaming services like Hulu and Netflix from wherever you are. Some countries like Canada, don’t allow residents to see all content from other countries. Even if it’s not blocked completely, you can make your internet connection look like it’s coming from another city so you can see content that is restricted in your area
- Protect your money when using non-secure WiFi – Using non-secure WiFi like that found in coffee shops and hotels, is one of the riskiest things people do. They often think that no one sitting near them in Starbucks could possibly want to steal their credit cards or passwords. Snooping Public WiFi data is one of the easiest ways for any low-skill hacker to steal your money.
- Hide your location – Use a VPN to hide your location so you can stop websites and app from knowing where you are
- Access Your Work Email or Office Files from Anywhere – If you want to see websites your employer has blocked or watch Netflix during lunchtime, a VPN can help you do that too. Using one will let you bypass security and help you connect to a server outside of your workplace and bypass your employers’ filters and content blockers.
- Hide Your Online Activity from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) – Using a VPN can even let you hide your activity from your Internet service provider or ISP. Your ISP is how you connect to the Internet from your home or office. Although the ISP will know that you used a VPN, they won’t be able to know anything that you looked at including what websites you visited, the videos you watched, or messages that you sent.
- Bypass Internet Censorship – Internet censorship is often imposed by governments to block citizens from accessing social media websites, news, videos, pornography, and any other content they don’t like. When you change your location, a device can bypass censorship restrictions.
- Protect Your Privacy – Use a VPN to protect your privacy online so no one can know what websites you visited, what you watched, or who you sent messages to.
- Shop Online Securely – With a VPN you’ll be able to shop online securely whenever you are. Whenever you pay online, your money is at risk of being stolen. Hackers can steal your credit card numbers during the purchase process and use the information to rack up charges in your name. A VPN will keep your payment card information secure
- Block Website Trackers – Website trackers such as cookies are used to follow internet users across all the websites, apps, and social media sites they visit. This information is sold, in aggregate, to advertisers who use it to show you annoying advertisements based on past online behavior.
- Access Blocked Social Media – Certain social media sites or apps are routinely blocked by the government in certain regions of the world or during times of unrest due to political or moral reasons. Use a VPN to unblock social media and messaging apps so you can communicate freely without fear of tracking and spying.
READ: Will My VPN Work in Canada?
Why use a VPN at home?
The main reason for using a VPN at home is to watch blocked content – like sporting events or films – that are restricted based on geographical location. For example, some Netflix shows are only available in certain geographic geographical regions. The television and Netflix content that American viewers watch is not always available to Canadian viewers.
Governments routinely block films, shows, and websites for religious or moral reasons. Many sporting events are restricted to viewers who reside inside or outside of a particular geographical area. Students want to use block social media channels like Snapchat at school. A VPN helps you get around geographical restrictions it helps you watch block content online regardless the reason.
Sometimes films are released in one country before they can be seen in another country. Another reason to use a VPN is to spoof your location so you can watch television channels and film releases as soon as they come out So where are you live.
Some websites like travel websites may show you different pricing an offer other options depending on the location your web browser his indicating you can use a VPN to change your location so you can see options available in other geographic regions or countries. For example, when I was shopping for an airplane ticket from my hotel in London My web browser was detecting my location and showing me prices in euros and not all flight options available. I used IPVanish so I could change my location and see options and pricing in US dollars.
Why is it becoming more widely used?
VPNs are becoming more widely used as cyberattacks, data breaches, and malware attacks become more frequent and well-publicized. People are increasingly using mobile devices all day and are highly likely to be using a non-secure Internet connection that lets hackers easily steal their sensitive information, spy on private messages, and steal payment card information.
Why Do I Need a VPN?
Everyone needs to use a VPN to protect your money, personal data, and private messages sent as you use any internet connection. People often use the same usernames and passwords for social media or email as they do for their financial accounts. if an unauthorized person gets a hold of a password and email address used for a website purchase, they may easily use it to hack into more valuable accounts – like your bank. This is a tactic known as social engineering.
Hackers compile information about tens of thousands of people from past data breaches, social media profiles, and workplace websites and use it to build a profile. They then send phishing emails to these potential victims and try to trick them with harmful emails. The malicious emails contain links to fraudulent websites or have harmful email attachments. The fake websites can steal bank account or payment card information.
Why Use a VPN on My Phone?
Using a VPN on your phone can protect your private messages emails and money while you are away from a secure Internet connection. Anytime you use a public WiFi connection you are putting your data and money at risk even posting something on social media can hand your username and password over to a hacker who was monitoring a public WiFi connection since people often you reuse the same passwords across all kinds of accounts a simple post to Instagram can result in a hacker cleaning out your bank account.
How to Choose a VPN
When choosing a VPN service based on the decision on expected data usage needs and travel habits. Robust VPN subscription services offer thousands of servers all over the world. The closer you physically are to the VPN server, the faster your connection speed will be. It’s true that a VPN may slow down your Internet connection slightly. This is often unbearable when using free VPN apps as they have no incentive to deliver a good user experience and you’re not paying for a fast connection. So, when choosing a VPN, figure out how often you travel and where you are likely to be and way the sincere VPN decision.
Nord VPN has over 5100 servers available in over 55 countries. IPVanish which is slightly smaller has over 1400 servers available in over 75 locations. I’ve used IPVanish in hotels airport in North America, Taiwan, Portugal, and other parts of Europe with no problem
READ: NordVPN vs IPVanish VPN Review – Which VPN is Better for You?
How Do You Get a VPN?
You can get a VPN quickly and easily from a reputable software developer. There are many reliable VPNs available and most of them cost less than $10 per month. Someone who travels to remote areas may need access to more servers and should use a more robust VPN like NordVPN. But even a service like IPVanish, which is easy to use and compatible with almost all devices, will work well. Both are reasonably priced and offer free trial periods. Most subscription VPNs offer plans where the longer the subscription, the cheaper the monthly fee is. I use IPVanish and have used it in all of my travels across the globe.
There are many free VPN apps available. Read our post on Is IPVanish Free? Free apps rarely offer a choice of servers and can be quite slow to connect. They often come with data limits and don’t allow users to watch streaming media. Some have later been found to be spying on the users they supposedly protected.
