It is difficult to achieve true privacy on the internet these days without the right tools. iVPN has been providing online privacy and security to internet users worldwide. iVPN explains here how users can stay anonymous online with a VPN service that cares about user privacy.
There are always going to be new threats to user online privacy. Governments are becoming increasingly interested in online surveillance. More of them are working on new and better techniques for intercepting and reading user data. The threat of compromised internet privacy is something everyone around the world is going to have to come to terms with.
VPN Technology
Many internet users worldwide have for some time been using internet privacy tools to protect themselves. There are many popular tools, but paid VPN services like what iVPN provides give users faster speeds and better protection. VPNs are private networks that encrypt user data and send it securely through a private tunnel. This means that your traffic is safe as it travels through the internet to its destination. The VPN provider is the only one who can decrypt the data, and only does this so it can be sent on to the intended recipient. VPN tunneling technology allows users to secure their data with military-grade encryption. And it keeps user data safe from other people snooping on connections by securing the data’s path over the internet.
The VPN tunnel connects to a VPN server that is secure from prying eyes as well. The VPN server assigns the user an alternate IP address that anonymizes the user’s traffic. No one can identify the user through his or her original IP address because it is now hidden. Only the VPN service knows what the user IP address really is. And VPN servers even give users additional malware protection, keeping malware far away from user devices. With a VPN, even your ISP won’t know what you are sending or where, or what sites you are visiting and the online activities you engage in.
VPN Privacy
Not all VPN services really care about user privacy, though. Your VPN service will have access to your data. Therefore, the privacy score of your provider is the most important consideration when choosing a VPN service. iVPN explains that some VPN providers who offer free services take advantage of user data. They sell this data to help maintain the service. Others are not so awful, but just can’t afford to provide good speeds or high security to their users. Some VPNs are not able to effectively combat user privacy issues. Laws on data sharing prevent them from being able to really secure their users’ data.
Making sure that your VPN service provider has strict policies on guarding user privacy is the first thing to check on. Whether you are a current VPN user or are looking to sign up, talk to the VPN provider and check out VPN reviews. You need to determine what their policies are on logging, storing metadata, and sharing data with ISPs, the government, or anyone else. Governments can forse VPN providers to turn over user data in accordance with the law. So the only way a VPN provider can protect users is to not have any data to turn over. Hence, no-logging and no-data storage policies are very important. Of course, to monitor the network for maintenance to provide top service, VPNs need to look at usage data. But this data does not need to be stored for more than a few days.
Be very careful when you are looking for information on VPN data logging practices. Many VPN providers do not clearly state their policies. And others don’t explain very well what the policies mean. Make sure you check on the following points:
1. Web Logs. If your VPN provider maintains web logs, this means that they have a record of your IP address and the times and dates when you connect to their servers.
2. Billing. If you use an online service like PayPal that has a record of your name and billing address, your VPN service might store this information that can identify you. There are more private payment methods like prepaid Visa cards and Bitcoin that are safer to use.
3. Profiles. A VPN might store some user data for advertising purposes so they can send pertinent offers to their subscribers. The problem is that they may also be sharing this data with other companies to use in their advertising campaigns.
4. Storage Duration. Troubleshooting requires usage data to be stored for a maximum of 3 days. If data is being stored for much longer periods, this is a sign that it may be used for other purposes. In any case, the longer usage data is kept, the riskier it is because third parties have a better chance of getting to it.
5. News and Updates. A VPN provider that updates users on the current issues surrounding online privacy is likely to be more cautious about preserving user privacy. Much of the new laws on privacy affect VPN services and how they can protect users. So being able to see what the VPN provider thinks about new laws and policies, and how they share this news with users, can give a lot of insight into where they stand on user data.
Stay safe online with iVPN, and rest assured that your personal data is safe from advertisers, snoopers and cybercriminals.
