A VPN is a common tool for online users over the past decade and beyond. As the world has become more digital and online, the need for a VPN has only grown. Originally used as a tool for anonymity and privacy whilst someone browsed the internet and used applications, VPNs have quickly become an all-encompassing tool that helps its users in many ways online. You can find a free VPN online very easily due to the rise in online tools.
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a process of creating a private and protected network connection. A VPN will encrypt your internet traffic and cloak your online identity by rerouting your IP address. It does this by acting as a middle stage, rerouting your activity and internet traffic. The encryption factor is added in through a tunnel, which is put around your identity as soon as you connect. The combination of the VPN server and the tunnel of encrypted traffic makes it impossible for nefarious characters like cybercriminals or hackers to target you.
More recently, the more threatening actors online have come in the form of Internet Service Providers, governments, hackers, and third-party companies looking to steal your data and spy on your activity online. It was recently found that data is becoming more valuable than oil, and this is news coming out after it was leaked that Verizon had sold customer data to the US government.
There was a surge of VPN users during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when two things came to light: you are being spied on more than you realize, and the same characters who are spying are hugely restricting your online content. Here are the ways a VPN can get you more content online:
Get More From Streaming Entertainment
Everyone loves using streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and others. Most people don’t realize, however, that they are getting almost the exact minimal available from these sources of online entertainment. The biggest streaming providers limit the content in their libraries for users, defining what each one can watch based on where they are in the world. If you are in the United States, you will not be able to watch the hit TV show Bridgerton, but if you were in the UK you can watch as many episodes as you want. The same can be said for genres of content – if you are a huge anime fan but live in the US, you will find that there are not many anime TV shows or movies compared to someone who lives in Japan. Thankfully, by using a VPN on the device you want to stream content, you can change your location and place yourself anywhere in the world, depending on the content you want to watch. This is done by routing your IP address to the country where the content is accessible on the streaming platform.
Watch Any Sporting or National Event
Using a VPN, you watch almost any national sporting match or broadcast event. Some countries have very niche sports which aren’t international, take snooker for example. If you are a snooker fan in the US and want to watch the UK Snooker Open, you would find it impossible – even major streaming sports providers like ESPN or FOX Sports won’t show Snooker. In the UK however, the event is nationally broadcast, meaning it is on the free-to-use BBC iPlayer. By using a VPN, you can route your IP address to the UK and use iPlayer to watch the UK Snooker Open, despite being thousands of miles away. The same can be done for other global events if you know it is shown nationally in some capacity.
Get Any Form of Online News
In today’s world, we are seeing more and more restrictions on freedoms online. This can come through multiple sources, whether it is an institution that wants to cut down on what they perceive as distractions online, to countries and governments that want to cut news sources that go against their agenda. You can find examples of these through huge multinational corporations and establishments, and also in countries like Russia, China, and Iran. To get around this annoyance, many people in these domains find a VPN a crucial tool for getting their online freedom back. With this, they can watch, read or consume all forms of media that give them a true, well-rounded, and detailed report on things around the globe. The way this is done is by using a VPN to put their IP outside their restrictive domain and into a place where freedom online is more widely accepted. After this, you can browse the web without realizing that you are being censored or restricted.
A VPN is a fantastic tool for getting around online and getting more access to content that you had no idea about. Whether it is TV shows, movies, podcasts, or even hard news, a VPN can give you so much more online.
