What is a VPN and what is it for?
A VPN encrypts your internet connection and swaps your IP address for the address of a server in a country you choose. Here’s what that means day to day, when it’s worth turning on and what you shouldn’t expect from it.
The short version
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is an encrypted connection between your device and a server run by the VPN company. Everything you send to the internet goes to that server first and only then out to the website. Nobody in between can read it, and the sites you visit see the server’s IP address rather than yours.
The technology isn’t new. Companies have used VPNs for decades so staff can reach the office network safely from home. Consumer services like the ones on our map work the same way, except instead of an office you get servers in dozens of countries.
What people use it for
Public Wi-Fi
On an open hotel or airport network you don’t know who set it up or who else is connected. Most sites use HTTPS these days, but the services you connect to are still visible, and some apps encrypt poorly or not at all. With a VPN, traffic leaves your phone already encrypted. More in VPN on public Wi-Fi.
Privacy from your ISP and advertisers
Your internet provider can see which domains you connect to. With a VPN it only sees a single encrypted connection. Websites and ad networks lose your real IP address, which usually reveals your city and sometimes your neighbourhood.
An IP address from somewhere else
Connect to a server in a given country and you get a local IP address there. That helps when your bank won’t let you log in from abroad, when you work with clients in another market, or when you want to see how a site or ad looks elsewhere. The VPN map shows who has servers where.
What a VPN won’t do
It won’t stop malware you download yourself, although some providers block known malicious sites. It won’t hide you from a service you’re logged in to, because an account is an account whatever your IP address. And it won’t make you fully anonymous: cookies, browser fingerprinting and your own habits can still identify you. We cover this in Online anonymity.
Is it legal?
In most of the world, yes, including the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and the whole EU. Banks, companies, newsrooms and ordinary users rely on VPNs every day. A handful of countries restrict or ban them, so check before you travel. A VPN doesn’t change what’s legal online, and some streaming services limit access from outside certain countries in their terms.
Free or paid?
Servers cost money, so a free service has to pay for itself somehow. The safe option is a free plan from an established company. Proton VPN has no data cap but doesn’t let you pick the country, while Windscribe and TunnelBear give you a monthly data allowance. Be wary of anonymous apps promising a “free unlimited VPN”: sometimes your data is what’s being sold.
Getting started
Work out which country you need an IP address from and check on the map who has servers there. Then compare a few providers on the VPN providers page. Once you’ve signed up, install the app, log in and pick a country from the list. You can switch whenever you like.