In June of 2018, the FCC officially repealed net neutrality rules that were put into place during the Obama administration in 2015. Among the restrictions that were lifted were protections against Internet Service Providers selling information concerning their customer’s browsing habits. This loss of privacy became a major concern for a large number of Americans. It has left them wondering how to protect themselves and their personal information from being traded as a commodity.
Virtual Private Network: How Can It Benefit You
Through research, more and more people are discovering how VPNs can help them secure their information. A VPN – or Virtual Private Network – is a way for an everyday user to surf the internet as they normally would without worrying about their service provider gathering valuable information about them. Users subscribe to a VPN service, such as TorGuard, to serve as an intermediary between them and the internet. The VPN provides a private and heavily encrypted flow of information between itself and the user. When an everyday user uses a VPN, they are using a proxy to get the information from the internet. Their ISP only sees the encrypted information going to and from the VPN, so they have no idea what is actually being communicated. On the other end, websites are unable to gather information about the user, because to them, the proxy in the VPN is the user – which it obviously is not.
Another benefit of using a VPN is that the user can use them to bypass geographic locks on information. For example, consider if there is an information app for your phone that the local government doesn’t want to be used. If they’re in a country with information restrictions like this, they can’t access Google Play using their home ISP. However, a VPN can fool Google Play into thinking that they are in Chicago instead of their actual home. Additionally, because the traffic to and from the proxy in the VPN is encrypted, the ISP doesn’t know what is being sent.
VPNs don’t just have amazing uses for everyday users. Businesses take advantage of the security of VPNs every day. For example, let’s say that John Q. Salesman is traveling to make a pitch to an important client. They travel from their company’s headquarters in Austin, Texas to Seattle, Washington, only to find out that they have forgotten a key pdf in the office.
Now, sure, they could pull up the information using their hotel’s internet and get the information that way, but that leaves them vulnerable. Because the hotel’s internet isn’t encrypted, all the information is sent in plain text and can be intercepted.
Hackers or corporate espionage agents can take advantage of that information to access John’s login information, making his company vulnerable to penetration from the outside. Instead, the company uses a VPN, so that the information sent to and from John’s laptop from the company server is encrypted. Suddenly anyone trying to swoop in and get valuable information no longer sees coherent information, they see random gibberish.
Essentially, a VPN provides an extra layer of security for an internet user who wants or needs it. Everyone’s data is valuable, even if they don’t think it is. You only have to look at the recent Senate hearings where concerned lawmakers grilled Facebook’s CEO about the social media’s data collection on its users. That data is extremely valuable to advertisers who can tear it apart to identify what entire segments of the population are shopping for and how best to entice them into clicking a link or shopping at their store.
And that sort of data is only the tip of the iceberg. Consider how much online banking is done every day across the United States. How often does a person check their bank account while sitting in Starbucks, using their unencrypted Wi-Fi? Or use public Wi-Fi to avoid using valuable data on their cellphone as they purchase something from Amazon. Suddenly everyday shopping habits can become very real vulnerabilities in a person’s life, leaving them open to identity theft or worse.
Whether it’s a large business, a small business, or just an everyday user, everyone can benefit from using a VPN. There are tradeoffs, of course. Sometimes speed is compromised because the proxy server for the VPN is not located locally, so the information has to travel some distance. And with most VPNs, there is a nominal monthly or annual fee. However, with the security and peace of mind that a VPN can offer, most find it a small price to pay.