Why Do I Need a VPN?

At its simplest, a VPN is a way to connect to the internet whilst adding and extra layer of security and privacy to everything you do on the internet.

No matter if you use a pc, mac, laptop, Chromebook, MacBook, a tablet, iPad, iPhone, fire, smart phone or any other device that can access the internet, the chances are that at some point you have inputted information into to it that you wouldn’t even want your next door neighbour to know.

From passwords to bank details and from card details to personal information of interest to only you and your doctor, we now have no issue with inputting anything onto a website or into an app but just as more and more companies are collecting this information from us, more and more criminals are trying to hijack that information.

That is why you need a VPN as it not only adds an extra level of security from prying eyes but more and more of the companies we willingly give our information to use that information to sell on to advertisers (or worse) and to even use against us to try and change our shopping habits.

The same can be said for when you are using wi-fi in cafes, shops, bars, restaurants, hotels, trains, airplanes, airports and anywhere else offer wi-fi.

With anybody who wants to able to access the information you are sending whilst using an unsecure connection, you need to make sure that you add an extra barrier between your device and server offering the internet connection.

As well as securing connections to public hotspots, a VPN can also hide your IP address so nobody knows who you are, where you are located and best of all they cannot track your around the web.

More and more companies are investing in technology to follow you from one website to another and even to see who you receive and send email to all in the hope of either selling that information or passing it on to advertisers. Whilst all of that is hugely important and should be at the forefront of any decision to opt for a VPN service, another and often overlooked advantage to using a VPN is that you can save money on your shopping and travels as websites and apps nowadays use your location to determine the price of something.

If you live in the West End of London, for example, you will likely see a much higher price when shopping than if you were to live in Stoke-on-Trent.

Likewise, if you are booking flights and a website knows you are from the UK, you will likely pay a much higher sum than if a website thinks you live in Taiwan.

Whilst fully legal in most parts of the world, to us that just seems unfair.

Why I Need a VPN?

Here are the main reasons to use a Virtual Private Network and why you need one.

If you think about all of the time you have access the internet today outside of your home, maybe on your daily commute or whilst grabbing lunch or in the office, you will likely have connect to a public wi-fi and whilst you likely though nothing of it, at the same time you were logging into your emails, checking your banking or doing some online shopping, 100’s if not 1000’s of others were accessing that same network.

Just imagine if one of those users weren’t just your regular commuter or coffee drinker but somebody trying to find ways to get the information you shared online and guess what, it the time it took you to think off that, they have gotten your info and disappeared forever.

That can lead to lots of problems, from major ones including identify theft and using your credit/debit cards to smaller issues such as selling on your account details to your email services etc.

No matter what they wanted your information for, it will not be good and it will cause you problems and that is why a VPN and its ability to encrypt your information, is so important and that is why you need a VPN.