A VPN is often the first thought when looking to increase your privacy on the Internet. Easy-to-access, inexpensive, and sometimes even free tools that promise a more peaceful navigation. But how do they work for our privacy, exactly?
In essence, a VPN (A virtual private network, or virtual private network), it’s not very sexy. It is a program that will be inserted between your machine and your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to add a layer of encryption to the data that passes between you and the sites you visit, which are hosted on remote servers.
As a result, most communications from companies offering VPNs focus on this capability, sometimes to the point of overdoing it. To hear them tell it, VPNs have magical powers: VPNs make you disappear from the web; A VPN makes you completely anonymous online; A VPN allows you to download without fear of reprisal… apparently it’s not that simple.
What is the role of VPN?
Above all, a definition of VPN is necessary to lay a good foundation for understanding. To fully understand how a virtual private network improves your privacy on the Internet, you first need to understand what we’re talking about.
A VPN is first and foremost an online security tool. We often talk about “tunnels,” and that’s a good analogy. Imagine that the data passing through your internet connection is like the passengers on a train. Vehicle windows permitting priority Anyone can take a look to see what passengers are doing during their journey.
So a VPN acts like a tunnel through which our train passes, cutting it off, so to speak, from the outside world. All that remains are the entry points and exit points. Visual contrast takes this parallel, which prevents the eyes from squinting. However, there remains the problem of the VPN itself, which is called a tunnel.
In broad terms, therefore, a virtual private network enforces the conditions under which your online data moves across the net. To do this, the VPN works in such a way that only the sender (you) and the recipient (the VPN provider’s server) can decipher them, and clearly have access to the information, i.e. read it.
How does a VPN encrypt my data?
Encryption (and not encryption, which is an anglicism) is therefore at the heart of a VPN’s security promise. To better understand its role, we can imagine that it takes the form of a secret language, understandable only to the transmitter (us, always) and the receiver (the program provider). By doing so, a VPN ensures that no third party can eavesdrop on what is passing through our Internet connection.
Once connected to a VPN, all outgoing data from our machine is first encrypted before passing through the famous tunnel we talked about above. However, to be able to interact with visited sites, encryption must be lifted before reaching the destination. Technically speaking, our data can potentially be intercepted on its way from the VPN server to the final destination.
But this would be to ignore another key characteristic of VPNs: we are immersed in mass. Using a VPN also means hiding your IP address behind a chosen server. A server that you can imagine, you are not alone to use! Certainly, a particularly competent and motivated hacker can leave the VPN server and retrieve the data (no zero risk), but he has to be extremely efficient and very savvy to achieve his goals.
VPN publishers use different encryption protocols depending on their offerings.
Generally speaking, the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm is required and is (in its AES-256 variant, the longest and therefore strongest) the most secure. OpenVPN is an open-source protocol that offers a good balance between performance and security. Finally, WireGuard is particularly notable thanks to the excellent security guarantees it offers while guaranteeing access speeds.
What information does my VPN hide?
We traditionally use the word “data” when discussing the case of VPNs. But what exactly is that data?
As you can imagine, there are a lot of them! Even more so in our time when most of them escape us without our knowledge (that goes to your ISP, your streaming platform, the mapping software you use, etc.). Also, making an exhaustive list would be somewhat pointless.
It also depends on what you do during your session behind the VPN. If you go to YouTube, the information that flows between you and the video sharing site will be affected. Same if you go to tax website. Or your favorite forum. In short, everything that passes through the tunnel.
However, a VPN is responsible for encrypting all outgoing data from your machine. Some VPNs can also be installed on your router to ensure this All Your home data is encrypted. Apart from TRAIN, we can also consider a virtual private network as a protective barrier that only allows data to pass in order with its papers (i.e. valid encryption).
But the keystone of all this is undoubtedly the IP address. Connecting to a VPN means adopting the IP address of the chosen server, and therefore changing it for you. The result? Our position, in the eyes of curious people, is therefore improved. This is easily noticed: if you connect to an Italian server and then go to an Apple or Amazon site, you will automatically be redirected to the Italian version of these sites. It is this aspect of a VPN that allows residents of countries where the internet is blocked to browse more freely.
Are all VPNs equal when it comes to privacy?
There are several criteria to consider when choosing a VPN provider. Most products offer today minimum OpenVPN encryption. So their operation is the same: data is encrypted before leaving your machine. Mission accomplished? Not really, because there’s a crucial point to keep in mind: your VPN provider may be aware of your online activities.
Yes, remember: data is decrypted before it reaches its final destination. This means that the company offering this service has the keys to view its content. We can clearly see here that the trust you place in your provider is absolutely essential when choosing a VPN service.
For this, there is no alternative, you have to do your research. Luckily, we’ve done some of the legwork for you in our comparison, complemented by detailed tests of the most popular VPNs on the market today.
Finally, it is recommended to know your provider’s logging policy. The log, as they are called, contain a timestamp of your use of the service and are used to log your activity on the net. Better to turn to a VPN with a zero-logs policy, period.
Major VPN providers declare that they enforce this type of policy. This is obviously a commitment that must be qualified. It is difficult to ensure that this policy is followed. There is also nothing to say that a VPN will never cooperate with the judicial or administrative authorities of a particular country, especially if the requests comply with legal regulations.
In addition, you should also keep in mind that even if these no log policies are well implemented and respected, the providers of these solutions have a database containing some information about you, which was entered at the time of registration (email, address, identity, means of payment, etc.).
How do I choose the right VPN for my privacy?
Trusting your VPN provider is essential and should not be overlooked. It’s the same principle with your internet service provider. Only, this involves handing over the management of your internet traffic to a third party company, often located in foreign countries and whose laws regarding the protection of personal data are not necessarily as strict as in France.
It should not be blind faith: the research phase is essential to know who you are dealing with. To earn your trust, a virtual private server provider must have an impeccable record, whether it’s on cybersecurity or its privacy policy. What’s the point of using a VPN to protect your personal data if it’s monetized or poorly secured without our knowledge?
In theory, many companies offering VPN services are not so cynical as to play double-dealing. Most of the time, they follow through on the commitments they make, but to a certain extent – they may not come to the point of taking. A stray bullet in terms of justice for you, especially if you commit outright illegality. In all cases, it is essential to find out before choosing your service.
What are the risks of using a VPN?
One might wonder if using a VPN is dangerous. We are tempted to answer that the main danger is definitely believing that VPN protects us from everything!
Virtual private networks are tools that add layers of security, but are not foolproof. If he can’t priority While your data between your machine and the VPN server isn’t too much, there are still many links in the chain that can fail: the VPN provider may adopt a policy of log to your detriment, including to cooperate with governments by sharing your IP address for investigations; Your data may be intercepted (with considerable effort) en route to a remote server or may later suffer from security issues that allow hackers to trace you.
The biggest mistake to make when adopting a VPN is to believe that it is an invisibility cloak lined with armor. If the past thirty years have taught us anything, it’s that the best way to control your personal data online is… not to use the Internet. But, we have an intuition that if you’re reading these lines, this isn’t really an option you want to pursue. In this case, using a VPN is a good way to increase your online privacy or, in other cases, to browse the Internet more freely.
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