Virtual private networks (VPN) is a tool that keeps your data away from marketers, but the protection it offers is limited.
Protecting your internet activities could be even more challenging after the US Congress voted on Tuesday, March 28, to kill a Federal Communications Commission's policy aimed at stopping Internet service providers (ISPs) from selling consumers' browsing history to the highest bidder.
Awakened by the creepy truth, CNET reported that Google searches in the US for VPNs have surged to a five-year high. Is this a manic response to the legislature's action? It is unclear, and there is no substantiated data available yet to confirm it.
Nevertheless, for some people wondering if VPN will keep ISPs away from your business, here's a saddening truth: It only does a little to protect your privacy.
VPNs provide private end-to-end Internet connections and are the main tool to keep out snoops when devices are connected to public Wi-Fi.
USA Today, however, said that the protection is limited. VPNs only keep broadband providers from seeing the sites that the users visit. Once logged into a website, however, an online retailer, for example, can still track user's activities so it can suggest tailored products.
"All that a VPN does is hide what take place to get from point A to point B. Once you're on the other side, if you have credentials there - think Netflix - it knows who you are," said Matt Stamper, director of security and risk management programs at the consulting company Gartner.
CNET added that while VPNs can redirect your internet traffic and make the data you send across the Internet unreadable to anyone, the tool still has the essential information about you and your browsing history. The question is, what would stop the VPN provider from selling your information to the highest bidder, too?