

Remember, when you are using a free service, whether it's a VPN or Facebook, you are the product and not the customer. VPNs cost money to run and so providers will also require users of free services to agree to alternative means for them to turn a profit - and this may include tracking and selling your data. Free options are often slower and will offer limited bandwidth capacity. Premium, paid services are often more trustworthy. It is worth noting, however, that VPN usage is banned in some countries. VPNs are not a silver bullet for security far from it, but they can help mask your online presence. (For a more detailed look at how VPNs operate, check out our guide.) In addition, some organizations will require their employees to now use a VPN when accessing corporate resources remotely, a demand which may now be more common due to employees forced to work from home due to COVID-19.

However, VPNs have also surged in popularity in response to increased surveillance, making their use a popular option for activists or those in countries ruled by censorship. Many users only adopt these services to access geolocation-blocked content - such as websites and apps banned in select countries - for example, a user in the United States could make themselves appear to be located in the United Kingdom, and vice versa.


Many VPNs will also include a 'kill switch' that cuts off your internet access temporarily if a connection drops in order to keep your online activity secure. Data packets are encrypted before they are sent to a destination server, which also results in IP addresses and your location becoming hidden. Whether you're in the office or on the road, a VPN is still one of the best ways to protect yourself on the internet.Ī virtual private network is a way to create a secure tunnel between browsers and web servers. Users can also choose which domains to trust and whitelist. NoScript Security Suite: Endorsed by Edward Snowden as a means to combat government surveillance, this plugin has been built for Firefox and other Mozilla-based browsers for the purposes of disabling active content including JavaScript, which may be used to track your online activity. HTTPS Everywhere: Available for Firefox, Chrome, and Opera, HTTPS Everywhere is a plugin created by the Tor Project and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to expand HTTPS encryption to many websites, improving the security of your communication with them. If you wish to stay with your current browser you can also use software that bolts-on to your browser to enhance the privacy and security of your surfing activities. These options include DuckDuckGo, Qwant, Startpage, and the open source Searx engine. To prevent such data from being logged, consider using an alternative that does not record your search history and blocks advertising trackers.
