What does a VPN protect you from?
A VPN is an essential tool for maintaining your privacy while using the internet. It connects your device to a VPN server run by a VPN provider (such as Rice VPN).
These typically operate multiple servers located around the world. The connection between your device and the VPN server is securely encrypted so that the ISP cannot view the content of your data.
What does a VPN protect against?
VPN protects you from your ISP
Often, your internet service provider (ISP) can collect a lot of information about your activities on the internet. If you browse websites that are not protected by the HTTPS protocol, they can track all your activities on those websites. This includes what pages you visit and what you enter into online forms such as payment details. However, fortunately, most websites have now adopted the HTTPS protocol, which helps protect your information. Even so, ISPs still likely know what websites you visit, which also gives them a piece of personal information about you, even if they don't know exactly what you're doing on that website.
In the United States, ISPs' efforts to sell your web browsing information for advertising purposes have caused controversy.
VPN protects you from censorship
Around the world, governments are taking drastic measures to control and limit citizens' access to the free and open internet. However, VPNs have become a powerful tool for those who want to overcome these barriers. By connecting to VPN servers located in countries without internet censorship, users can freely browse the web without being tracked or limited.
However, realizing the importance of VPNs, some governments have also made efforts to block the operation of VPN services. To deal with these obstacles, many VPN providers have developed and used advanced technologies. Thanks to technological innovation, VPNs continue to play an important role in protecting the privacy and internet freedom of users globally, even in countries with strict internet controls.
VPN protects you from government surveillance
By far the easiest way for governments to spy on their citizens is often through requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to record users' online activity. In the European Union, the 2006 Data Retention Directive (DDR) was declared invalid by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2014 due to human rights violations. However, after this event, most countries in the EU adopted DDR into local law, not abolishing it. This allows EU countries to legally require ISPs to record users' browsing history.
For example, the United Kingdom passed the sweeping Investigatory Powers Act in 2016, also known as the "Snoopers Charter," which allows the government to require ISPs to store users' web browsing history for 12 months . In India, the Department of Telecommunications has almost unlimited access to web traffic from ISPs.
Although the United States does not have mandatory data retention laws, revelations about NSA activities by Edward Snowden revealed the use of national security letters (NSLs) accompanied by gag orders to request ISPs cooperate in government mass surveillance programs. This was widespread and controversial.
In this situation, VPN has become an important tool to protect users' privacy and internet freedom. They prevent your ISP from recording your online activity, helping to prevent unwanted government surveillance of your online activity. Note, however, that a VPN cannot prevent government surveillance that specifically targets you, like the types of surveillance carried out by intelligence agencies like the NSA.
VPN protects you from public WiFi hackers
VPNs play an important role in protecting your privacy online, by encrypting the connection between your device and the VPN server. This effectively blocks any attempts by others to hack into your WiFi connection, even on unsecured public WiFi networks. Whether they use methods such as WiFi snooping, hacked access points, or other hacking techniques, your data is protected by strong encryption.
Hackers taking advantage of public WiFi hotspots was a serious threat in the past, but the recent spread of the HTTPS protocol has significantly reduced this threat. When a website uses HTTPS, all data transmitted over that connection is encrypted, preventing hackers from stealing your personal information on that website.
However, there is still a risk from DNS spoofing or DNS poisoning, as DNS requests are often sent unencrypted to the ISP. VPNs help protect against this threat by routing all DNS requests through a VPN encrypted tunnel, which the VPN's DNS server then resolves. This ensures that your DNS data is not exposed and your browsing is fully protected, helping you browse the web more securely and privately.
VPN protects you from public WiFi servers
A VPN is a valuable tool that protects your privacy when using public WiFi networks. You're used to reading and quickly accepting lists of Terms and Conditions for accessing public WiFi networks, but what matters most is your privacy when you connect.
The biggest threat when using public WiFi today comes not from criminal hackers, but from WiFi servers. Many public hotspots are essentially commercial enterprises, making money by collecting and selling your browsing history to advertising and analytics companies. This is not only an invasion of your privacy, but also trades your personal information to promote targeted advertising.
When you use a VPN, you create a layer of protection between your device and a public WiFi server. This means that the WiFi server cannot know what you are doing when connected to them. Your data will be strongly encrypted and unreadable, ensuring your privacy on public WiFi networks and helping you browse the web more securely.
VPN helps protect you from website tracking
Websites and online resources are often able to identify your actual IP address, which is the numerical value that your internet service provider (ISP) assigns to your internet connection. This number is a unique identifier of your connection, and when combined with your ISP's cooperation, it can be used to track and collect personal information such as name, address, and other details. your other. Additionally, it also allows websites to determine your geographic location.
But when you use a VPN, a dramatic change happens. Websites can no longer see your real IP address. Instead, they only notice the IP address of the VPN server you're connecting to (and you appear to be accessing the internet from the VPN server's location, not your physical location).
However, it's worth noting that websites often have other ways to track you besides using your IP address, such as using cookies and device or browser fingerprinting. However, such tracking is not usually as intrusive to your privacy as knowing your real IP address, but it is still a matter of concern when considering your online privacy.
Final thoughts
A VPN is not an absolute protection against every threat on the Internet, but the number of threats it can protect you (or help protect you) from, makes it a valuable tool. Essential for anyone concerned about online privacy and security.
The important point to remember is that your VPN service provider replaces your ISP in determining what they can see of your activity. The biggest difference here is that most VPN services are specifically designed to protect your privacy. However, it's important that you choose a VPN service that you can trust.
VPN Rice is a prime example, trusted by millions of users worldwide, including activists, journalists, and regular users. With headquarters in Cyprus, which has some of the strongest privacy regulations in the world, VPN Rice not only does not store any logs, but under Cypriot law, they are not required to store any logs. keep a diary. All Rice VPN apps are open source and independently tested. Furthermore, their zero-log infrastructure has also been independently audited. All of this ensures that your data is optimally protected when using their services, from no logs to using open source VPN protocols and the strongest encryption.