5 Reasons Why You Need a VPN in 2020
With growing concerns about online security and privacy, many people opt for a VPN in order to stay anonymous online. But while this is the most common reason that people use VPNs, there are many more benefits to it, so today I’d like to cover just some of the reasons why a virtual private network will be an absolute necessity in the following year.
1. Public Wi-Fi
You might not know this, but on average public Wi-Fi networks are much less secure than private networks. This is mainly because there are a lot of people connecting to a public network, using different devices and different software to connect. In such an environment, malware activity is much higher and so the risk of infection with a Trojan or virus rises as well. The easiest way to prevent this is to employ a VPN on your laptop or mobile device. Most VPNs have built-in antimalware protection that will filter Internet traffic and make sure that your device is secure at all times.
2. Avoid Geo-Locking Restrictions
One of the best things about VPNs is that to a server, they can make it seem like you’re connecting from a completely different location. A lot of people use this to access streaming services like Hulu, Pandora or Spotify from countries that are restricted from using said services. If you’re from one of these locations and are not able to use these websites because of an unfair geo-restriction, a VPN is by far the easiest way to solve this. ExpressVPN is one such VPN that allows you to change your location, simply by connecting to a remote server.
3. Bypass Government Censorship
To tie in with the previous point, in a lot of countries around the world you simply don’t have access to a lot of the websites that most of us take for granted. Facebook, Instagram, and even YouTube are some of these websites that people generally can’t imagine their lives without these days. The good news is that if you want to bypass these often extreme restrictions, a VPN can help you do just that. This is because the aforementioned restrictions are also geographically based, so whether they’re triggered or not depends on the location of the connection – which can easily be changed when you connect through a VPN.
4. Secure Online Shopping
Nowadays it’s absolutely commonplace to make purchases through the Internet, but not many people know that this poses quite a few risks. If the connection you’re ordering through is not secure, your financial information can be leaked. A VPN can help you by securing this connection, keeping it anonymous and making sure that a third party does not get unauthorized access to your credit card credentials.
5. Saving Money
Not only does using a VPN make your online shopping experience safer, but it can also help you get better prices. Again, the reason for this is geographical. Many companies will offer preferential prices based on location, which means that buying the same product can be cheaper if you buy it from Australia than from the U.S, for example. Since this is also geographically-based, you can use VPNs to your advantage to change your apparent location, and grab these lower prices.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many reasons why it’s a great idea to consider using a VPN for all your future browsing habits. Not only does it make your online experience much more secure and anonymous (which is becoming increasingly more and more important these days), but there are also many up-sides from being able to alter your apparent geographical location, including better prices and bypassing restrictions on certain websites. It’s time to read some reviews, pick the VPN that works best for you and start reaping the benefits!