Letโs first understand how VPN works. A user usually installs a VPN client in his computer and connects to the VPN server using the VPN client. This creates a tunnel through which data is transferred in an encrypted format.
So, after a VPN connection is established, when the VPN user accesses a website or transfers any data, the data is first encrypted and transferred to the VPN server through the tunnel and then the VPN server makes a connection to the actual destination.
This has the following advantages :
1. As the data is transferred from your computer in an encrypted format, no one can decrypt and read the data.
2. The destination website will see the IP of the VPN server, instead of that of the user.
Now, the question is, does VPN make you anonymous then ?
The answer is โ No. VPN cannot make you anonymous for the following reasons :
1. Even though the destination website cannot see your IP address, the VPN service provider can. In fact, every VPN service provider logs at least some amount of data of the users to enable their service. For example, if the VPN service provider does not log any data of the users, it wonโt be able to offer plans based on GB usage of users or limit VPN connections per user. Moreover, to make sure their service is not abused or to prevent spams or DDoS attacks, VPN service providers always need to log some amount of data of the users.
2. Even if the VPN service provider does not log any private details of the users, the less sensitive data the service provider stores can always be associated with other data to reveal enough information about the user.
In fact, no Internet service, including Tor and Bitcoin can truly make you anonymous in that regard.
So, now the question is, why should we use VPN then ?
VPN is good for a user for a number of reasons.
When any data is transferred from your computer using a VPN connection, it is done in an encrypted format. So, if you are using a public Internet, such as public Wi-Fi in a restaurant, mall or hotel and you must login to a website or transfer some data, then you must use VPN for security purpose. If you use VPN, no one evil can decrypt and read easily which website you are browsing or what data you are transferring. To get a better understanding of this point, you can refer this article โ What is an Evil Twin Attack and how should we prevent it ?
In fact, VPN can secure you from many malicious attempts to steal your sensitive data transferred over the Internet.
So, VPN cannot make you truly anonymous, but from a security perspective, it is always good to use a VPN.
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