VPN use is becoming more and more common these days. We use VPNs to protect us while using public WiFi, to bypass VPN restrictions, and to mask our identity from our ISPs and even from potential hackers. It’s safe to say that we rely on VPNs a lot. However, while being quite useful, VPNs aren’t perfect and we need to be careful when making use of them. Below we’ll highlight some things that you should be careful of when making use of your VPN.
Privacy Policies Are Important
When you’re signing up for a VPN service, you should ensure that the company doesn’t share your information with third parties. The point of using a VPN is to ensure the safety of your data. If they’re sharing your data with third parties, then your data is compromised. To ensure your safety further, your VPN provider shouldn’t store any identifiable user information. This ensures that your information is kept private.
You should also be wary of the country where your VPN company is registered too. Some countries have laws that allow for the data of their citizens to be shared. In fact there is an alliance of 14 countries known as ‘14 eyes’ that allows for data to be shared between member countries. This data includes private communications between citizens. While a VPN provider might be well intentioned, if it is registered in one of these countries, its customers’ data might be compromised as it can be accessed by the authorities.
Ensure that your VPN provider is registered in a country that isn’t a part of the ‘14 eyes’ alliance to ensure that your VPN provider isn’t the source of your data being compromised. The countries of the ‘14 eyes’ alliance are the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, The Netherlands, France, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Sweden.
Ensure that Breaks in Your VPN Connection Don’t Lead to Your Identity Being Exposed
When you’re browsing with a VPN, there is a chance that your VPN connection might drop out. This is the nature of systems that aren’t perfect. However, you should ensure that you are using a VPN provider that provides what is known as a ‘killswitch’. This isn’t provided by all VPNs, but it should be. You’ll need to do your due diligence when searching for a quality VPN. What this feature does, is prevent you from connecting to the internet when your VPN connection drops out. By doing this, your data isn’t exposed in the case of your connection dropping out.
You should also ensure that your provider has measures in place to prevent DNS leaks. DNS (Domain Name Service) maps website names to IP addresses. Your VPN should conceal your DNS queries while you’re online. Pick a VPN that provides this feature. You can also test your VPN connection to see if your leak protection is actually working.
Final Thoughts
Your VPN is meant to protect you online and, in general, it will do just that. However, there are some caveats. Make sure that your VPN provider isn’t willfully or inadvertently exposing your data by following the advice above.
