VPNs are a popular tool that aim to help improve your online security and keep you anonymous while you browse. But they’re not quite the click-once-for-privacy tool many think they are. VPNs do have some limitations, and poor privacy practices elsewhere can make them almost useless. Here’s what you need to know.
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NordVPN is one of the fastest VPN options available. It’s also easy to use and compatible with a variety of devices.
How Does a VPN Protect Your Privacy and Anonymity?
A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel between your PC and a VPN provider’s server. All of your internet traffic is routed through that tunnel to their server so that your activity appears to be coming from the VPN provider’s server rather than your actual location.
In theory, this does a few things for your privacy and security.
The first big one is encryption. Encrypting your traffic between your PC and your VPN provider means that no one between you can snoop on your traffic, even if they manage to download a complete copy of everything you transmit. Most of the sensitive data you send over the internet these days will be encrypted already, and should be perfectly safe as-is, but another layer certainly won’t make the situation worse. Additionally, if for some reason, you are transmitting sensitive data unencrypted (not that you ever should), the VPN can provide some measure of protection.
The second is hiding your real IP address. Every time you connect to a website, the website can read your IP address—this is an unavoidable and necessary part of how the internet works. However, it also reveals some things about you, like where you’re located and who your internet service provider (ISP) is.
If your VPN provider is reputable, and the VPN is working correctly, hiding your IP does put a layer between you and whatever service you’re connecting to. Many VPN providers don’t even keep logs of their users’ activity, which means that if they’re ever compromised or their data is seized by law enforcement, there is nothing for anyone to see.
Because VPNs make it appear that your traffic is originating from the location of the server rather than your actual physical location, they are handy if you want to access regionally restricted content without jumping through a million other hoops. Just find a VPN server somewhere that has access, connect, and you’re golden.
Despite all that they can do, VPNs aren’t some magical privacy panacea—they do have some notable limitations.
VPNs Don’t Guarantee Privacy
VPNs hide your location and encrypt your traffic, but none of that means anything at all if you’re not taking other precautions. There are a handful of easy ways you can be identified, even if you are using a VPN.
Browser Fingerprinting
Every website you access wants to know some things about your PC so that it can correctly display the content. That sort of information includes what fonts are installed on your system, what browser you’re using, what plugins or extensions are installed in your browser, what the resolution of your screen is, and other things like that.
However, all of that information taken together can be used to generate a surprisingly accurate browser “fingerprint” that may be unique to you. The more customizations you apply to your browser (especially extensions), the more unique your browser fingerprint will be, and the more likely it will be that only one person in the world (you) will have that specific browser fingerprint.
A VPN does exactly nothing to defeat that kind of identification. The best solution to beating browser fingerprinting is to make your browser as generic as possible. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (an organization dedicated to digital privacy) has a website that lets you check to see just how identifiable your browser fingerprint is, and provides some tips about how to make yourself a bit more anonymous.
You’re Still Logged In to Things
Connecting to a VPN to hide your activity won’t do anything at all if you’re still logged in to the services that you’re trying to hide from. For example: if you’re trying to make yourself a bit more anonymous when dealing with Google, logging in to your Google account renders literally any other privacy measure you’ve taken completely irrelevant.
Remember to log out of things when you’re using a VPN. Better yet, use incognito mode or whatever private browsing option your browser has—it handles that for you.
Tracking Cookies Still Track
Cookies are used for all sorts of things by browsers, some completely benign and others less so. In any case, tracking cookies still track you even if you’re using a VPN, which can ruin any chance you had of anonymity.
You could completely clear your cookies first to reduce the possibility of this sort of tracking. Better yet, use a completely separate browser that you only use in private browsing mode while connected to a VPN. It isn’t a guarantee, but it is a definite improvement.
You Could Be Leaking Your Real IP
No security implementation is perfect, and some things accidentally bypass your VPN, revealing your real IP address. WebRTC is a current famous example of this, but there are certainly other, less well-known leaky services out there, and there will be new ones in the future.
Your best bet to prevent things from leaking through your VPN is to shut down as many extra services, functions, and programs as possible. As an example, if you disable WebRTC, then it can’t leak your IP.
VPNs provide an important service if you want to increase your online anonymity a bit. However, they aren’t useful if you aren’t taking other precautions, too.
