A VPN or Virtual Private Network provides you with a private encrypted server so that you can surf the internet while being hidden from your ISP, government agencies, and potential tracking websites. Most people use a VPN to protect their identity when surfing the internet on a shared or public network. Using VPN to access the internet is a great way to protect your data, identity, and anonymity while at the same time getting access to geo-restricted content.

A VPN simply makes you invisible on the internet so that whatever you do, cannot be traced back to you. It hides your IP address and routes your connection through a secure encrypted tunnel. Now that you have an idea of how a VPN works, let’s have a look at some of the benefits of using a VPN while surfing the internet:

Stay safe on public networks

Public WiFi networks are common around the world in different public places like restaurants, coffee shops, cafes, etc. Although they are very helpful, they are highly insecure in the sense that you cannot use the internet to deal with sensitive stuff. Things like banking, making financial transactions, sharing account passwords, etc are always vulnerable to being exploited by attackers on a public network.

Simply by using a VPN on a public network, you can hide all your online activity and the information that you are sending through the network stays hidden from the network. This allows you to perform sensitive activities like financial transactions, even on public WiFi networks.

Access geo-restricted content

Using a VPN while surfing the internet allows you unrestricted navigation across the internet. One of the benefits of using a VPN is that you can access any geo-restricted website, content, or application that you want. A VPN does this by changing your perceived location. As a result, you might be sitting somewhere in London but have the IP address and location from New York due to which you will be able to access all the geo-restricted content.

This feature of VPN allows you to stream movies and shows that are not available in your country, navigate through websites that are banned in your country, and access those applications that are restricted in your area. Whether you’re trying to access a show on Netflix or simply trying to access Omegle in your home country, a VPN is there to help you.

Secure your data from your ISP

Using a VPN also secures your data from your Internet Service Provider. When you are surfing the internet without a VPN then no matter what you do, your ISP has access to all of your browsing history and it can trace all of your browsing activity. Connecting to a VPN hides your IP address and makes you invisible due to which your data and online activity remain hidden from your ISP. Whether you are downloading a file from Torrent, visiting OmeTv, or streaming a show on Amazon Prime, your activity and data remain hidden from your ISP.

Secure your online activity from government

After ISP, a VPN also keeps your data and online activity protected from the government. Government agencies are continuously tracking our online activity but you can get some level of privacy simply by using a VPN when accessing the internet. Using a VPN ensures that your data is not traceable by the government or any other agency without your permission, allowing you to use and surf the internet with complete anonymity.

Data privacy from apps and websites you use

Your ISP or Government aren’t the only ones spying on you. The websites that you visit and the apps that you use also track your data and online activity. The popular social media platform, Facebook, has been called out multiple times for tracking user activity and using that data. A VPN prevents any app or website from tracing any activity back to your device or IP address, giving you data privacy.

Avoid bandwidth throttling by ISP

A VPN connection helps to avoid bandwidth throttling by your ISP. Bandwidth throttling is when your ISP intentionally slows down your internet bandwidth. This is done by ISPs when you perform certain online activities like downloading huge files or streaming videos on the internet. Sometimes it happens instantly as soon as you visit those websites e.g Netflix. But if you have a VPN connection enabled and the connection is encrypted then no one can see the websites that you are visiting.

Your ISP cannot see which websites you are visiting or how much data cap you are using which prevents your ISP from intentionally throttling your internet connection. Your ISP may still, however, throttle your internet connection during peak time, usually evening but that occurs with all the connected users and not you alone.