You
know
what
a
VPN
is,
but
the
question
remains—why
do
you
need
a
VPN?
There’s
one
good
reason.
Your
privacy.
Because
it’s
a
commodity
on
today’s
internet.
For
starters,
you
have
advertisers
and
internet
service
providers
(ISPs)
that
want
to
know
what
you’re
doing,
when
you’re
doing
it,
where
you’re
doing
it,
and
even
for
how
long
you’re
doing
it.
They
gather
and
use
this
information
to
create
targeted
ad
profiles.
And
sometimes,
they
sell
that
information
to
third
parties.
Next,
there
are
the
hackers
and
identity
thieves
out
there.
They
take
an
even
greater
interest
in
what
you’re
doing
online—like
your
shopping,
banking,
and
finances.
Even
your
insurance
and
medical
matters.
Primarily
they
want
that
information
so
they
can
turn
a
buck
by
hijacking
your
accounts
or
impersonating
you
to
get
medical
care.
In
more
extreme
cases,
they
might
use
stolen
information
to
impersonate
you
in
other
ways.
That
might
include
opening
entirely
new
lines
of
credit
or
getting
a
driver’s
license
in
your
name.
A
VPN
can
prevent
this
kind
of
snooping
from
happening.
VPNs
and
privacy—blocking
ads
and
data
collection
As
for
data
collection
and
ads,
that
activity
should
come
as
no
surprise.
Particularly
for
anyone
who’s
seen
uncannily
targeted
ads
follow
them
around
on
the
internet.
Search
for
“summer
cargo
pants”
one
time
and
suddenly
the
sites
you
visit
are
full
of
ads
for
pants,
pants,
and
more
pants.
Aside
from
gathering
your
online
activity
for
advertising
purposes,
ISPs
might
also
sell
the
data
they
gather
to
third
parties.
They
can
gather
that
data
while
you’re
on
your
home
network,
and
they
might
gather
it
while
you’re
using
public
Wi-Fi.
(Some
ISPs
provide
free
Wi-Fi
in
public
places
that
allows
them
to
collect
data
from
people
who
aren’t
their
regular
customers.)
This
practice
varies
by
region
and
the
data
privacy
laws
that
are
in
place
in
each
one.
For
example,
the
European
Union
has
strict
data
privacy
laws
that
prevent
this
type
of
sale.
(Thanks
to
the
enactment
of
the
GDPR,
General
Data
Protection
Regulation.)
However,
there
are
few
such
protections
in
the
U.S.
There,
an
ISP
can
sell
the
browsing
history
of
an
internet
user
to
a
third
party—provided
the
data
has
been
anonymized.
“Anonymized”
is
a
key
term
here.
It
refers
to
the
process
of
stripping
away
personal
identifiers
that
connect
a
person
to
a
set
of
stored
data.
It
might
also
include
adding
“noise”
to
the
data,
which
obscures
personal
identifiers.
For
example,
that
might
remove
an
exact
birthdate
and
replace
it
with
a
broad
range
of
dates.
So,
“March
31,
1957”
becomes
“January
–
June
1957.”
At
issue
is
that
this
anonymized
data
can
get
de-anonymized
rather
easily.
Researchers
in
2019
found
that
“99.98%
of
Americans
would
be
correctly
re-identified
in
any
dataset
using
15
demographic
attributes.”
And
when
you
consider
how
much
data
is
collected
about
you,
15
attributes
are
only
drops
in
the
ocean.
Marketing
and
analytics
companies
collect
hundreds
and
hundreds
of
data
points
on
people
and
their
households.
That
might
include
information
about
their
mortgage,
if
they
are
allergy
sufferers,
whether
they
own
cats
or
dogs,
where
they
do
most
of
their
grocery
shopping,
and
more—in
addition
to
other
information
like
their
age
and
address.
What
happens
when
that
information
gets
breached,
or
published
accidentally,
as
it
did
when
123
million
records
of
U.S.
households
were
made
public
back
in
2017?
It
gives
bad
actors
plenty
of
data
that
can
potentially
harm
others.
Internet
browsing
activity
doesn’t
account
for
all
the
data
points
that
these
companies
collect.
However,
the
thought
of
your
ISP
tracking
your
time
online
and
selling
it
to
others
might
leave
you
feeling
uncomfortable.
Whether
that
data
gets
anonymized
or
not.
VPNs,
privacy,
and
identity
theft
The
other
threat
to
your
privacy
online
comes
from
bad
actors—like
hackers
and
identity
thieves.
By
targeting
insecure
networks,
lurking
on
unsecured
public
Wi-Fi,
or
setting
up
phony
public
Wi-Fi
hotspots
themselves,
they’ll
snoop
on
the
people
using
it.
On
insecure
networks,
bad
actors
can
watch
as
you
log
into
your
bank
account,
read
your
email,
and
see
what
you’re
doing
on
the
internet
in
general.
They
can
steal
any
passwords
and
logins
you’re
using
along
the
way,
giving
them
access
to
those
accounts.
In
truth,
this
kind
of
snooping
is
more
than
a
threat
to
your
privacy.
It
enters
the
realm
of
identity
theft,
making
the
risk
to
your
data
and
personal
information
that
much
greater.
Three
reasons
to
use
a
VPN
With
your
privacy
and
personal
identity
in
mind,
here
are
three
specific
examples
that
make
the
case
for
using
a
VPN:
1.
You
value
your
privacy.
As
outlined
above,
the
internet
has
increasingly
become
less
private.
Advertisers
and
ISPs
will
track
you
when
and
where
they
can.
When
you
use
a
VPN,
you
can
hide
several
things
from
your
ISP,
like
the
websites
and
apps
you
use,
the
time
spent
on
them,
your
search
history,
and
downloads.
As
for
websites
and
apps,
a
VPN
can
hide
your
IP
address
and
your
location,
all
of
which
can
thwart
ad
tracking
on
those
sites
and
apps.
2.
You
work
remotely.
Many
larger
businesses
and
organizations
offer
(and
sometimes
require)
a
VPN
for
their
employees
who
work
outside
the
office.
Smaller
businesses
use
them
less
so,
which
makes
them
subject
to
attacks
like
data
breaches.
According
to
FBI
reports,
the
average
cost
of
a
data
breach
for
a
business
in
2022
was
well
over
$150,000.
Moreover,
cybercriminals
increasingly
wage
these
attacks
against
businesses
with
revenues
of
$500,000
or
less,
which
makes
the
thought
of
a
six-figure
loss
even
more
devastating.
A
VPN
encrypts
and
protects
company
data
in
transit,
whether
you’re
connecting
from
home,
the
airport,
or
anywhere
outside
the
office.
Using
one
protects
you
and
the
business
or
organization
you
work
for.
3.
You
want
extra
protection
while
you
bank,
shop,
or
handle
any
sensitive
matters
online.
A
strong
VPN
service
like
ours
uses
bank-grade
encryption
to
keep
your
data
and
information
secure.
With
a
VPN,
a
snoop
bad
actor
would
only
see
garbled
content
thanks
to
your
VPN’s
encryption
functionality.
Another
popular
reason
for
a
VPN—streaming
shows
and
content
If
you’re
traveling,
you
can
access
the
sites
and
services
you
typically
use
at
home.
For
example,
some
video
streaming
services
aren’t
available
in
foreign
locations.
By
using
a
VPN,
you
can
still
access
content
by
connecting
through
the
proxy
servers
that
VPNs
use.
These
are
servers
in
other
locations
that
can
make
requests
on
your
behalf.
So,
even
if
you
are
out
of
the
country,
you
can
connect
to
a
proxy
server
in
the
U.S.
and
access
your
services
as
usual.
Where
can
I
get
a
VPN?
If
you
have
online
protection
with
us,
like
our
McAfee+
plans,
you
have
a
VPN
ready
to
go.
If
not,
McAfee+
offers
a
great
way
to
get
one.
It’s
completely
private
and
independently
audited
to
ensure
your
sensitive
info
stays
secure.
We
don’t
log
or
track
what
you
do
online,
so
your
online
activity
remains
private.
By
design,
we
made
it
simple
to
use.
You
can
set
it
to
automatically
turn
on
if
you’re
on
an
unprotected
network.
Or
you
can
also
choose
to
keep
it
on
all
the
time
for
an
even
safer
online
experience.
With
nearly
50
server
locations
worldwide,
you
can
get
a
fast
and
stable
VPN
connection
wherever
you
go.
And
because
it
comes
with
our
online
protection
software,
you
get
other
identity,
privacy,
and
device
security
features
that
can
keep
you
even
safer
online.
Bottom
line,
a
VPN
makes
you
more
private
and
secure.
And
that
kind
of
protection
is
called
for
nowadays.
Ad
trackers,
data
collectors,
hackers,
and
thieves—they
all
want
to
know
what
you’re
doing
online.
And
with
a
VPN,
you
can
keep
all
that
to
yourself,
making
your
time
online
more
private
and
secure
than
before.
About Author
