{"id":216458,"date":"2021-04-01T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T10:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/does-a-vpn-really-make-your-online-activity-private\/"},"modified":"2021-04-01T13:40:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T10:40:00","slug":"does-a-vpn-really-make-your-online-activity-private","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/does-a-vpn-really-make-your-online-activity-private\/","title":{"rendered":"#Does a VPN Really Make Your Online Activity Private?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28a37f2dcaa\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28a37f2dcaa\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/does-a-vpn-really-make-your-online-activity-private\/#What_Does_a_VPN_Do\" >What Does a VPN Do?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/does-a-vpn-really-make-your-online-activity-private\/#VPNs_and_Privacy\" >VPNs and Privacy<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/does-a-vpn-really-make-your-online-activity-private\/#VPNs_and_Logs\" >VPNs and Logs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/does-a-vpn-really-make-your-online-activity-private\/#What_Are_VPNs_Good_for\" >What Are VPNs Good for?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#Does a VPN Really Make Your Online Activity Private?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-717884 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/anonymous-person.jpg?width=1200&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"An anonymous person holding a paper with a question mark in front of their face.\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/businessman-covering-his-face-using-white-607238195\" data-credittext=\"StunningArt\/Shutterstock.com\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/businessman-covering-his-face-using-white-607238195\">StunningArt\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>VPNs are advertised as the best way\u2014maybe even the only way\u2014to stay private online, but is that really true? If we look beyond the marketing copy, we find a much more messy reality than what is portrayed on the homepages of VPN providers.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Does_a_VPN_Do\"><\/span>What Does a VPN Do?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When you connect to the internet, you access the website you want to visit by going through your ISP\u2019s network. Your ISP knows the domain you\u2019re accessing and where you\u2019re located, as does the website you\u2019re visiting\u2014although it has a rougher idea of your location. This data is stored in\u00a0log files, which can record data such as your IP address, the time of your connection, and the length of time you were connected for.<\/p>\n<p>This data is worth good money to marketers, and has become a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dzone.com\/articles\/isp-selling-data-why-you-should-actually-care\">source of income<\/a> to ISPs and websites. Besides commercial purposes, log files can also be used to track people who use BitTorrent to illegally <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">download<\/a> files as well as people who use <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> to brag about their crimes.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re concerned about your privacy, perhaps because you just don\u2019t want third parties making money off your data, one of the things you can do is use a virtual private network when you connect to the internet. When you connect to a VPN, the VPN sits in the middle and functions as an encrypted tunnel. Your internet service provider or local network can only see that you\u2019re connected to the VPN\u2014not what you\u2019re accessing through the VPN. The websites you access will see the VPN\u2019s IP address rather than your IP address. We have a full article on how VPNs work, but, in short, instead of sending your connection to the ISP server and then to a website, you\u2019re placing a server\u00a0owned by the VPN in between. By going through this private server, both your ISP and any sites you visit will see its IP address rather than yours.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>What Is a No-Log VPN, and Why Is That Important for Privacy?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"VPNs_and_Privacy\"><\/span>VPNs and Privacy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>According to what many providers promise, VPNs are a silver bullet that will annihilate all your privacy worries with a single stroke. Replacing your IP address with the VPN\u2019s, however, solves only one problem, and not even a big one at that. There are still plenty of ways to find out who you are and what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n<p>Probably the biggest problem VPNs don\u2019t solve is that you can still be \u201cseen\u201d thanks to browser cookies\u2014which websites use to remember who you are\u2014as well as any social media accounts you\u2019re signed in to\u2014and many keep you signed in, like it or not. This means that if you\u2019re signed in to Google or Facebook when you\u2019re using your browser with a VPN, they can still track you. It\u2019ll just look like your physical location has changed.<\/p>\n<p>The only way to fix this is by using Incognito Mode and a VPN together, but we have yet to find the VPN provider that will tell you this.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, finding out anything about how VPNs operate is hard: For whatever reason, they don\u2019t like to share details about how their products or businesses work. One thing that\u2019s very hard to test, for example, is how secure the connection a VPN provides actually is.<\/p>\n<p>For example, one of the biggest promises they make is that your connection will be encrypted in something called a \u201csecure tunnel.\u201d That sounds really cool\u2014until you realize that there\u2019s no good way to test whether it works from the outside. Though the AES-256 cipher most tunnels are advertised as being encrypted with is nigh uncrackable, there\u2019s no good way to find out whether it really is that encryption key that\u2019s being used.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>What&#8217;s the Difference Between Incognito Mode and a VPN?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"VPNs_and_Logs\"><\/span>VPNs and Logs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This brings us to another thing that we\u2019re asked to take on faith. Namely, how your logs are treated. Many\u00a0VPNs claim to be \u201cno-logs\u201d or \u201czero-logs\u201d services, saying that they do not keep records of your activity online.<\/p>\n<p>However, this claim takes some stretching of the imagination to believe, as there\u2019s always a record of the event when servers connect. The internet literally cannot function without this data being generated. It has to be kept (at least temporarily) so that servers know where to send data back and forth.<\/p>\n<p>We suspect that most of these services destroy logs as soon as they\u2019re created, which is fine from a privacy perspective\u2014but doesn\u2019t fit well into marketing copy.<\/p>\n<p>Many VPNs will admit to logging some types of data, though that usually comes with assurances that they only log unimportant information, like what time the VPN server connected. The log files that could identify users are supposedly not recorded or destroyed, like with a zero-logs service.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re going with a no-logs service or one that keeps only connection logs, you\u2019re taking the VPN provider on faith, as neither claim can be investigated. In the end, you\u2019re going to have to trust that VPNs aren\u2019t selling your data. Look for a VPN with a good reputation, not one that just promises \u201cno logs\u201d\u2014some VPNs work with third-party auditors in an attempt to prove their security promises.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>What Is a No-Log VPN, and Why Is That Important for Privacy?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Are_VPNs_Good_for\"><\/span>What Are VPNs Good for?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>With all of the above information in mind, the question arises whether VPNs are actually good for anything. They are, in fact, very useful tools. They\u2019re just not the privacy panacea that they\u2019re often said to be. <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a>ly speaking, there are four reasons to use a VPN:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>As a privacy tool in a wider strategy<\/strong>: If all you do is turn on a VPN and keep browsing like normal, a VPN won\u2019t necessarily give you much privacy. But combined with Incognito Mode, secure email and messaging, plus some other tricks, you\u2019ll be much harder to track.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>As a way to circumvent regional restrictions<\/strong>: You can unlock any country\u2019s Netflix library, for instance, or visit the sites of state broadcasters in other countries.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>To stay ahead of copyright enforcers:<\/strong>\u00a0People who illegally download copyrighted content using software like BitTorrent often use VPNs to disguise their peer-to-peer traffic.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>To circumvent censorship<\/strong>: People that live in countries with internet restrictions\u2014China, for example\u2014can use a VPN to get away from their country\u2019s internet and onto the \u201creal,\u201d unfiltered one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>VPNs are handy tools, but they\u2019re not the only way to protect yourself online\u2014nor even the best one. Although VPNs definitely have a use for most people who spend a lot of time on the internet, their use (like with any tool) is a lot more precise than many would have you believe.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking for a VPN to protect your privacy, recommend\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expressvpn.com\/\">ExpressVPN<\/a>\u00a0here at How-To Geek. ExpressVPN has been our top pick here at How-To Geek for years, and many of us have used it for that long. ExpressVPN is a stable company that\u2019s been around for a long time. The company even innovates by developing new <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> like\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/69457\/expressvpns-new-lightway-protocol-promises-speeds-that-dont-suck\/\">Lightway<\/a>, a next-generation VPN protocol that will be open-source.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/717587\/does-a-vpn-really-make-your-online-activity-private\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Does a VPN Really Make Your Online Activity Private?&#8221; StunningArt\/Shutterstock.com VPNs are advertised as the best way\u2014maybe even the only way\u2014to stay private online, but is that really true? If we look beyond the marketing copy, we find a much more messy reality than what is portrayed on the homepages of VPN providers. What Does&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":216459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/anonymous-person.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}