How to Set Up and Use a VPN
It might sound paranoid to say you should use a virtual private network (VPN) as often as possible, but there are real threats to your privacy. If you find yourself using public instead of office Wi-Fi because of the novel coronavirus (or for any other reason), unscrupulous individuals can attempt to intercept your information. Whenever you connect to the internet, your internet service provider (ISP) has access to everything you send and has been given the green light from Congress to sell your anonymized information to advertisers. Out on the wide-open internet, advertisers can track your movements between websites and discern your location by peeking at your IP address. And don't forget what three-letter government agencies may be up to—it's scary out there!
The fact is that the internet was created for easy information exchange, not user privacy, anonymization, or encrypted communication. While HTTPS goes a long way toward protecting your information, it doesn't guard against ISP snooping or local network attacks—a major problem if you ever use a connection that isn't yours, such as one you might be using while working from home.
What a VPN Does and Does Not Do
As with any security tool, it's important to understand the limitations of a VPN. After all, you wouldn't expect a Kevlar vest to save you from falling out of an airplane or a parachute to stop a bullet.
When you switch on a VPN, your traffic is routed through an encrypted tunnel to a server operated by the VPN company. That means that your ISP and anything (or anyone) connected to your router won't be able to see your web traffic. From the VPN server, your traffic exits onto the public internet. Unless you're headed to a site that uses HTTPS, your traffic is no longer encrypted.
Because your traffic appears to come from the VPN's server, your actual IP address is effectively hidden. That's important, because IP addresses are distributed geographically and can be used to find your rough location. If someone checks your IP address, they'll see the IP address of the VPN server. This can come in handy if you want to spoof your location. By connecting to a VPN server in London, you can make it appear as if you were accessing the internet from the UK.
What a VPN won't do is completely anonymize your traffic. To do that, you'll want to use a service such as Tor. This excellent anonymization service is most easily accessed through a special version of the Firefox browser. Instead of just piping your data through a single intermediary (such as a VPN server) Tor bounces your data through several different volunteer computers. This makes it much harder for someone trying to track your activities to see what you're up to.
It's also important to remember that when you're connected to a VPN, the VPN now has as much insight into what you do online as your ISP would. A good VPN should never sell your data, and should go to great lengths to ensure it retains as little information about you and your activities as possible. These measures to protect your privacy should be clearly outlined in the company's privacy policy. Our reviews summarize the efforts VPNs make to protect your privacy, too. If you're not comfortable with the VPN you're using, consider moving to one you feel you can trust.