These days, everyone should have a VPN running on his/her device(s) — including computers, smartphones, tablets, and even gaming consoles and streaming devices. You may think you don’t need one — but think again; do you really trust your ISP, let along the tech giants that know everything you do online. Also, what about security – is every Wi-Fi hotspot you’re connecting to/from secure? Can you be sure?
I guess there are people who THINK they don’t need a VPN. However, there are also those that pretty much *must* use it. And that’s what this article is all about, to highlight 5 user types who definitely need a VPN. Here’s what we’ve got…
1. Torrent users
Downloading files from BitTorrent is not legal in all countries. Heck, ISPs in some places may even prevent you from using BitTorrent in the first place.
There are a few reasons behind this — for one thing, blocking torrent traffic is a way for media conglomerates to protect their content rights. Cause producing that content takes both time and money.
With a VPN, you are free to download AND upload all the files you want, with your ISP not even knowing what’s going on with your connection. A VPN will mask all Peer-to-Peer (P2P) traffic as regular HTTPs traffic, making sure you can torrent as much as you want.
That being said, we’re not suggesting anyone to download pirated content using BitTorrent. If you want to watch movies and/or TV shows, the right thing to do is to pay for them.
You may want to check our list of best VPNs for torrenting.
2. Frequent streamers
Streaming is one of the most popular use cases among VPN users and this applies to both people living in and outside of the U.S. Whereas Americans use a VPN to be able to access their favorite movies and shows from places where access to those services is not allowed — i.e. schools and work — as well as to be able to keep their access while traveling abroad; non-Americans want to access the U.S. “versions” of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and other video streaming services. Cause content these services provide for Americans is the best — while the rest of the world gets a slightly different offering. This is just the way the content is bought and sold on today’s international market with companies buying regional rights for different content.
In addition, with a VPN – you will yet again mask what you’re doing online from your ISP, which could prevent you from enjoying the shows as much as you can. Without a VPN — when they know what you’re doing online — they may throttle your connection (make it slower) after some threshold has been reached. And you don’t want that to happen.
Check out our list of best VPNs for streaming.
3. Frequent travelers
Traveling to other countries is fun and we suggest anyone should do it as much as possible. Meeting new people and getting familiar with new cultures is what makes life better.
However, visiting other places also comes with a (cyber) risk as you will be using and relying on Wi-Fi hotspots that may or may not have the proper security setup. To avoid your data being stolen and other risks stemming from using open hotspots, you should use a VPN to keep your connection secure at all times.
This is especially true if you plan to do some work while traveling. You don’t want your data to end-up in the wrong hands, don’t you? So make sure all your devices have a VPN running in the background.
Related – Selecting a VPN for Travel: 4 Factors to Consider
4. People craving for anonymity
With major corporations, namely Google and Facebook, trying to keep up with every move we make online — and especially after the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal — many people decided to take a lower profile on the internet. That, however, is easier said than done with the two tech giants having their tracking codes placed across millions of websites.
A VPN could help a lot here to, for start, hide your real IP address — and consequently — your location. In addition, it could also remove all tracking codes as you surf the web, and provide for a much more anonymous experience. This, in case you wonder, could also help you save some cash on airline tickets and with other merchants that keep track of your interests online.
Also read: 11 Tips To Be More Anonymous Online
5. People living/working in or visiting high-censorship countries
We in the West take internet freedoms for granted. That, however, is not the case in many places around the world — including China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and so on. In those countries, there are dedicated government agencies that are actively censoring what you read, watch and listen online. For instance, access to popular services such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is not available from everywhere.
In order to bypass these restrictions, users are getting VPNs which mask the internet traffic from their ISPs and let them access the web in its entirety. Not all VPNs can do this “trick,” therefore we have prepared a list of VPNs that have been proven to work in high-censorship countries. On our “Find a VPN” page, you can see the list of services that are best suited for most popular countries — including those that are censoring their constituents.
We’re sure you’ll find the service that works best for you from there. Good luck! 😉