No matter who you are or how you spend your time online, there is one thing that you have in common with everyone else. That is, of course, a need for privacy and security. Even if you are not yet aware of the dangers lurking behind the virtual doors you encounter online, the risks to your private data and security are very real. Before you can take steps to protect yourself, however, it is imperative to understand where the dangers lie. Once you understand the need for security and privacy better, finding a tool that can secure your online presence and offer you new levels of privacy becomes much easier.
How Private is Your Internet Presence?
In case you were wondering, privacy and the internet are not synonymous with one another. While there are a lot of built-in tools that help protect your personally identifying information from getting out, there are plenty of programs and services that take troves of your information.
As our lives move closer to an all-digital and connected reality, there is an ever-increasing amount of our personal information being stored online. Most of the time, users grant permissions to companies that they think are trustworthy because they are large and offer the best services, but other times internet users accept terms to contracts that they never read and willingly give up all kinds of rights in connection to their personal data and privacy.
What types of information potentially sacrifices your privacy? Virtually all of it. Credit card numbers, passwords, bank account information, gender, age, address, connections with friends and acquaintances, browsing habits, shopping habits, location data, and the list goes on. It is scary how many different companies generally have access to a person’s data, at any given time.
One of the only ways that you can guarantee privacy for yourself and block all the aforementioned data from getting into the wrong hands, is to use a VPN service, or VPN dienst, if you happen to be from Deutschland. A VPN provides a layer of security that basically, tricks onlookers, trackers, corporations, and governments into thinking that you are connected to the internet from a different place than where you are physically located.
How Secure Are You?
Security is just as important as privacy when it comes to online habits. While the two are linked on many levels, they are not the same thing. A good VPN service also ensures that your personal data never leaks, as well as encrypting all your traffic with military-grade encryption algorithms. Not only is using a VPN great for protecting your privacy, but also for your security. When you are deciding which VPN provider, or welcher VPN anbieter, to go with, make sure to look out for features like Double VPN, VPN over TOR, Killswitch, and No-Logging policies. Most VPNs won’t feature every security feature in their package, but you should be sure that security and privacy are at the top of their priority list.
Final Thoughts
Differentiating between online privacy and security is important so that the different types of threats can be better understood. Luckily, however, you won’t need two different solutions as VPN can easily bring you new levels of both privacy and security. Get yourself a VPN subscription if you don’t already have one but remember to do your homework as they are not all as competent as the next.