A VPN is a powerful tool to protect your privacy and security in certain situations, but depending on why you’re using one, you don’t necessarily need to keep it running all the time. It can slow your Internet down by adding relay points to your connection – so sometimes, you may find yourself wanting to turn it off!
Privacy from your ISP
If you’re wanting to hide your internet usage from your ISP, a VPN is the perfect tool to do so. If this is the only reason that you’re using a VPN though, there are times you can turn it off.
If you’re only concerned about some specific usage being tracked, such as torrenting, you can enable your VPN while you’re torrenting, then disable it again when you’re finished. If, however, you’re more concerned about your general browsing privacy, you should leave your VPN enabled all the time. It’s all up to your usage.
Security on Public Wi-Fi
You should always use a VPN when connecting to an untrusted public Wi-Fi hotspot. If you’re not using a VPN, your activity could be monitored by hackers on the same network as you, or by the provider of the hotspot. You may even see a warning about your activity being visible when you connect – take it seriously!
Bypassing Location-Based Content Filters
VPNs can be used to bypass the location-based content filters that you’ll find on websites such as Netflix. If you’re trying to access content only available in another region you obviously need a VPN. But if you are only using a VPN to bypass content filters, you can disable it once you no longer need to be changing your location.
Tip: Services like Netflix try to stop you from doing this – they regularly ban certain VPN providers from accessing their services, so you’ll have to choose your VPN carefully!
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