For a while now, we have all always known that government agencies, advertisers, and other third-party companies are always seeking our private online data. Backed by the 2017 legislation approved by President Trump, things have scaled from bad to worse.
The legislation gives Internet Service Providers i.e. companies that provide access to the internet among many other services full control over their customer’s online privacy. By extension, the legislation means ISPs have the authority to sell your online data without your consent.
This lace into our privacy rights does tear off even the smallest shred of privacy we thought we had. However, it’s not all doom and gloom, ugh as there’s still a way we can secure our online activity – using a VPN. Now more than ever, VPNs have become popular with individuals and organizations looking to preserve their online privacy. The advantage of using one is that you don’t have to incur the high cost and sacrifice of privacy data when using online services.
In this article, we’ll highlight the upsides and downsides of VPN usage. This will not only make it easier to decide if they are right for you but also ultimately help you choose the best VPN provider. Let’s get started.
Pros of VPN usage
- VPNs effectively protect your online identity by masking your real IP
- VPNs encrypt your traffic, making it useless to ISPs since they can’t tell what you are doing.
- They also help you evade prying eyes such as government surveillance and companies looking advertise their products
- By using VPNs, you can sidestep geo-restrictions on websites and other online services. This allows you to gain unlimited access to content you are otherwise blocked out of.
- VPNs secure your connections and online data, especially when you are on public or free Wi-Fi. Such Wi-Fi connections are almost always insecure – Achilles heel cybercriminals may leverage to access your data or credentials
- If your ISP throttles, i.e., limits your bandwidth, you can prevent that by using a VPN
- VPNs hide your IP address and consequently can help you bypass network firewalls. This includes government-enforced firewalls such as the Great Firewall of China.
- VPNs allow you to download and share torrents securely. This is handy if you reside in a country where torrenting is illegal or prohibited by your ISP.
- Some online retailers sell the same item at different prices, depending on your location. It is also common with airlines as well. To avoid this price discrimination, a VPN is your best bet.
Note that sometimes the VPN can be ineffective here if the retailer site uses cookies to tag your device.
Cons of VPN usage
- More often than not, the best VPNs are expensive. Typically you need to shell out at about $8/month for a reliable VPN, which is a big ask for some people.
- Free VPNs are risky as they may infect your system with malware. Free VPN providers may also sell your bandwidth or collect your online data
- Some VPNs can’t unblock geo-restricted content or sites
- VPNs might slow down your connection speeds due to the encryption used.
Generally, VPNs have their strengths and their points of concern. However, the strengths clearly outweigh the weaknesses. If you wish to protect your privacy and security (who doesn’t), you need to get yourself a VPN. However, you also need to ensure you get the right VPN to significantly bring down the cons.
