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« on: December 28, 2016, 07:31 AM »
Whether or not to use a VPN is something that must be considered carefully. When someone asks me if they should be using a VPN I tell them that they need to tell me first why they think they need one. A VPN will not make you 'invisible'. While your traffic will be encrypted, there's no way to hide that your IP address is connected to and communicating with the destination IP address. Your IP address is like your home address. While you may receive a big honkin' package from UPS and your neighbors will not be able to see its contents, your neighbors are still going to be able to easily see that you did receive a big honkin' package of some sort. While we're on the subject, Tor isn't nearly as safe as it used to be, either, if you are trying to keep everything you do on the 'net on the down-low.
Do your due diligence and homework. All VPN services are not equal. Some have shoddy VPN clients that leak data and personal details. Some services keep logs for months, sometimes years. Again, ponder carefully why you think you need a VPN as that will weigh heavily in which service you should go with. For a lot of people, using a VPN is far more trouble than its worth with little benefit because they chose the wrong service or configured the VPN client on their machine improperly or don't bother to turn on and off the client at appropriate times. Yes, some sites will reject traffic if they detect any VPN activity so you will toggling it once in a while. A VPN is not a fire and forget solution.
In short, a VPN can be a very secure tool for the right people in the right circumstances, but it's not a cure-all for everything malevolent on the internet.