It is a fact that we live immersed in the Internet age and this means many things. Among others, an exposure that we are not fully aware of because of how our “online life” takes place, and that is that we leave a deep trail wherever we go that can be exploited for all kinds of purposes: from the advertising profile to the manipulation or data theft.
It is, because of these dangers that modern life entails in which we are always connected, that VPNs, the virtual private networks or virtual private networks, have acquired a leading role among the leading tools of anyone who cares a bit about their privacy. Because yes, VPNs include other advantages; but let’s not fool ourselves: the main one is to protect privacy… without undermining the experience.
In other words, there are methods that are just as or more effective for preserving Internet privacy than using a VPN, but they are not nearly as convenient. As a sample, try Surfshark free for a week on Android, iOS, or macOS. This is one of the great VPN providers on the market and, unlike others, it offers this trial period that is limited in time, but complete in terms of features.
The distinction is important, because although there are free VPN services, they are either unreliable, very bad, or very limited, as is normal. A VPN not only takes care of encrypting your Internet traffic, or assigning you an international IP on demand: it does it without affecting your browsing speed. Here’s the key. Otherwise, you can use Tor for free and not worry.
However, it is not the same. Having a lot of privacy at the cost of destroying the experience is not the same as having a little less, with all the guarantees of speed and compatibility that any ordinary user has. And with the advantage of connecting to the IP of the country you want, yes, although we will continue to consider this feature secondary, even though for many it is the most basic reason to jump on the VPN bandwagon.
In essence, with a VPN you can hide web traffic from your own ISP, but without hindering the use of your favorite services (put Google, Facebook, Netflix, Spotify…), whether they are harmful to your privacy or not (that’s up to you). ); but you can also combine the use of a VPN to block tracking by third parties, although in that case you will have to work a little harder to do things in the proper order.
With a VPN, you will be able, as has also been mentioned, to connect to those same services from the country you want, with the possibility of accessing, for example, content that was banned from you due to regional blocking, with just a couple of clicks, without import the device from which you connect and without detracting from the connection and download speed. This is the true strength of VPNs.
So you already know what can a vpn do for you: increase your online privacy by encrypting your traffic for your Internet provider, but also for the services you use and the sites you visit; assign you an IP with which to mask your own and with the incentive of simulating a connection abroad; and do it all without affecting the speed of your connection and, therefore, your browsing experience.
what you can’t do For you, no VPN is to guarantee your anonymity, because that does not exist on the Internet; just as it cannot guarantee you an optimal level of privacy if you do not put a little interest on your part. Keep this in mind, because it’s important: anonymity on the Internet does not exist, as has been proven numerous times over the years. Not a VPN, not Tor.
For the rest, VPNs are today a valuable resource… and cheap, because the competition in the sector is brutal. Of course, cheap is not free. Stay away from any free VPN unless you use it sporadically for trifles. That’s why a test like the one offered by Surfshark is better: if it convinces you, you pay… And it doesn’t have to be Surfshark, although it’s one of the few that offers unlimited devices. But let it not be for alternatives.
