VPNs have grown popular in recent years. From social media platforms to YouTubers talking about their importance, the term has exploded in the public eye. Their popularity has a lot to do with how important they are. They are particularly useful, as they enable internet users to mask their identities and protect themselves from mischievous actors on the internet. But what does a VPN actually do? What is a VPN anyway? How does a VPN hide your information in the digital age?
What does a VPN hide?
Initially, VPNs were only popular with corporations and businesses interested in protecting their data from others, especially from Cyber-attacks. Nowadays, however, it is a term with widespread use and acknowledgment from the general populace. This shift in awareness comes with the realization of the importance of cybersecurity. That is, modern wealth is not only encompassed in our bank accounts and vaults but rather, in our precious collection of personal data.
What is a VPN?
A VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It is you connecting to a virtual server hosted by a VPN host. Your internet traffic then proceeds to always come and go through that server. Everything that you browse, from your daily YouTube binging to commenting on Reddit, goes to that server. It acts as a different route compared to your standard internet connection. Once your internet traffic reaches the server, the server then forwards the internet signal to whatever website you are using, so you can browse normally.
How is a VPN different from a regular internet connection?
So, what is special about a VPN? How different is it from a standard internet connection?
When you use the internet, you transfer signals from one place or another using your device, and back. We call these signals data packages. These are responsible for everything you do on the internet. Whether you browse the internet, watch a movie, or write a post on Reddit. It forms the basics of communication between you and the rest of the world.
How can a VPN hide your information?
Your VPN could hide your data in an encrypted form, only accessible by an encryption key. Encrypted means that all your data becomes ciphered code. This code looks like gibberish that nobody can understand unless they de-code it by using the encryption key.
The benefit of this is that your online activity becomes hidden and secure from everyone else. Nobody can trespass on you or your data.
The importance and benefits of hiding your Data
What does “data” include? For starters, your data includes whatever you are doing on the internet. Like we mentioned earlier, all communications on the internet occur with tiny data packages.
Whenever we send or receive a file, the process does not simply send the file in its entirety. Computers split files up into bite-sized pieces before sending it to each other.
Whether that be your emails, your bank account details, your social media account, or your password, all of your data is valuable for others. Why? The reason is that they can make some monetary gain from it, not to mention that malicious actors can exploit and use this data against you. Data has become the key to wealth in the modern era. Companies lust after this valuable resource, selling it off to advertisers, using it to make their ads more targetable. Also, they could use the massive data for their own purposes.
It is unfortunate that companies have exponentially grown their data collection activities, but it was inevitable. Companies store your data on countless servers online, experts estimate that Facebook has a total of three hundred petabytes in storage - a petabyte being a million gigabytes! That data is your right. As you are the one who is directly associated with that data, you generate it. Imagine the government knowing where you are, how many steps you took that day, and what products you are interested in buying online. That data is responsible for your entire online profile, and someone could harm you in many ways if someone got their hands on it.
While a VPN will not stop Facebook from collecting information about you, it will prevent cybercriminals from doing so when your data is on its way to a service you are using.
How does a VPN protect your data?
Using a VPN like VPN Proxy Master prevents anyone from snooping in on that data. VPN Proxy Master encrypts all of your internet traffic, meaning that nobody can spy on you even if they have access to your internet connection.
This protects you from surveillance, especially by cybercriminals. Since cybercriminals often use the data to attack you personally or auction it off on the dark web. Your personal details, for example, may be subject to a cybercriminal’s mischievous intentions.
Does VPN Proxy Master protect me from online tracking?
Absolutely. The best part of using a VPN service like VPN Proxy Master is that companies that collect data without you signing in will not be able to identify you based on your IP address. Any data they collect on you will be worthless.
Can I use VPN Proxy Master on a public Wi-Fi?
No one should use a Public Wi-Fi connection without a VPN. Think this - you connect to a public cafe network, only to have your personal details stolen by someone malicious connected to the same network. Hackers can employ various different types of attacks, such as man-in-the-middle, packet sniffing, rogue networks, and evil twin attacks. Fortunately, you can protect yourself from these malicious attacks without having to learn about them nor needing to invest in expensive security software. Investing in a VPN such as VPN Proxy Master will immediately ensure that your data is safe and secure.
Does a VPN hide my search activity?
By using a VPN, you can hide your search history from third parties. Since VPN Proxy Master encrypts all of your data, other parties such as government agencies and your ISP, nor any criminal with access to your network can decipher that for which you are searching. However, keep in mind that if you are logged into an account, the service you are using will still be able to track your history and associate it with your account.
Will using VPN Proxy Master stop bandwidth throttling by my ISP?
Some ISPs throttle data speeds once their subscriber reaches a set amount of data used per month, depending on their plan. While other ISPs throttle their users’ connections to Netflix and YouTube to save on their bandwidth expenses.
Since a VPN hides your data usage, your ISP cannot know what it is that you are currently browsing, streaming, or downloading. This protecting you from bandwidth throttling.
Hiding your Location
VPN Proxy Master redirects all of your internet traffic through their servers. These servers are often at a different location, so the IP address associated with your requests is different from your real IP address.
Why is my IP address important?
Whenever you connect to the internet, your device sends signals that include your IP address. That IP address can pinpoint your geographic location. It enables the websites you are using or the services you subscribe to spy on you. Using a VPN changes all of that. It changes your IP address, meaning that the internet service you are using cannot decipher where you live, where the original internet signal is coming from.
Hiding IP addresses is important. As they can allow someone to know where you live - in what city, and country, oftentimes down to your neighborhood if not more precise.
Bypassing geo-restrictions
A side benefit of this is that your VPN changes your IP address altogether. It not only hides your original address but also changes your IP to whatever country you wish. You can pick servers based in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, wherever you want. If Netflix does not have some shows in your country, using VPN Proxy Master can make Netflix think you live in another country. This can allow you to access content without restrictions based on where you live.
Since you can change your location using a VPN, you can also bypass tailored online retail prices. Some companies charge more money for the same product, depending on your location. It can cost you unnecessary money that you could otherwise save. This can easily bypass these biases in retail prices with the help of VPN Proxy Master. That is, it can get you cheaper prices for the same product.
Using VPN Proxy Master’s special streaming servers
While VPN Proxy Master does hide all of your personal information and encrypts all of your internet traffic, services like Netflix have gotten better at detecting VPN usage. Thankfully, VPN Proxy Master offers special streaming servers just for this reason. These are servers that get around the various detection methods used by Netflix to stop users from using VPNs.
Simply subscribe to VPN Proxy Master and while connecting to their servers, make sure you select the Streaming Servers instead of their regular servers. VPN Proxy Master offers a 30-day money-back guarantee so there is absolutely no harm in trying it out.
