You may have a VPN installed on your PC or mobile. They are widely used applications that can be very useful. However, you should know that not all of them are the same. There are those that protect your data better, that have more servers or have greater speed. In this article, we are going to focus on what type of data, mainly, can collect VPNs. Especially, this will happen when you use a program that is not completely reliable.
Basically, we can say that there are free and paid VPNs. The first ones are the ones that usually cause the most problems. After all, in many cases they will take advantage of user data for profit. They will obtain an economic benefit at the expense of sell that information to third companies.
Data collected by a VPN
To prevent them from collecting data and using it in a bad way, it is key use a good VPN. We can recommend some like Surfshark or NordVPN. They are recognized applications that have good servers and, in addition, the guarantee that your data will be safe and you will not have any problems.
IP adress
The first thing is the IP address. When you use a VPN, you can make the IP address with which you browse other pages or platforms different. For example, maybe you are traveling in another country and need to connect to an application that is only available in Spain. You are going to use a VPN with servers in Spain and, in this way, the IP is as if you were in Spanish territory.
Now, that VPN will be able collect your real IP address. He will know where you are. Could I use that data against you? The truth is that this information could be sold to third parties, it could be leaked, etc.
The pages you visit
You will also get information about web pages What do you visit? That data could end up in the wrong hands, they could sell it to create a profile about you and start receiving targeted, more personalized advertising. Maybe you don’t want the websites you visit to be filtered.
A good VPN usually has what is known as No-Log or no logs. Basically, it means that it is not going to store this type of information that we mentioned. You will browse with greater privacy, without so many problems.
Data you share
Something similar can happen with the data you share. We are not just talking about the pages you visit, but about any information you can share through a form when registering on a platform, a registration you make in a forum or anything you send via messaging.
This could also be collected by a VPN. They could know more about you to later sell that information to third parties and profit. Therefore, it is key to use this type of software correctly and only use those that are guaranteed.
Connection times
Yes, it will also be able to collect how much time you spend on a page, how many times you have entered a platform, etc. Ultimately, all these connections will first go through the VPN. They are going to obtain this data and they will be able to have a record of everything what you are doing on the Internet in relation to time.
To maximize privacy, it is essential that you use a VPN that does not have logs, that does not store this type of data. You can achieve it, as long as you install reliable software that works correctly and helps you preserve your privacy as much as possible.
In short, a VPN can be a very useful tool for browsing the Internet, but it could also be a problem if you use it incorrectly. It is key to protect your data and prevent them from obtaining information about your browsing, connection times, what you visit…
