I think I understand the basic concept. My fear comes with actually downloading something to use on my Acer (CX14-I58G) Chromebox.
I’ve looked at the Google Sheets VPN comparison table showing the various VPN’s listed. I even read what each of the column definitions mean. Personally, I am leaning towards a couple of listed.
Where the wheels fall off the wagon for me is when I download the VPN from the Google Playstore (or perhaps I need the Google Web Store) and it then asks to fill in a text box. I can figure out how to assign a username and a password. But then I’m gonna bet it is going to probably ask something about my IP address or something like that, I have no idea where to find that information.
Is this just something I should take to Best Buy and have them set it up? Many of the VPN’s line listed are cross-platform, so I could bring in my HP Chromebook, set it up on that, and then somehow get it to work on the Chromebox?
I enjoy my computer, and tend to like technology, however, it rarely seems to like me back. I am becoming more aware of bad actors trying to learn too much about my private life. I really do not know if my fear is rational or not. But if VPN can help. I’m all for it. The cost per month does not seem to be great, so that is a relief.
Any guidance you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Understand, if you use initials, with your instructions. I probably will not understand what you are writing. So, for clarity, please spell out the entire words you are referencing.
Most VPN apps will only.need to to sign in with a username and password and then at most select a server country. But most will have a “select best server” button.
The apps can do all the address configuration themselves.
Most have options for more convoluted setups but you don’t need to go near them if you don’t want to.
it is going to probably ask something about my IP address
Nah. Most of them only want you to signup/login, pay the subscription, and then pick what server you need (if even that, some just chuck you to the nearest server). Basically, if you can login to Reddit on an app, you already know how to login to a commercial VPN.
bad actors trying to learn too much about my private life … if VPN can help
A VPN isn’t magic. All it does is prevent your ISP from knowing what domain (ie, reddit.com) you end up visiting. Even without a VPN your ISP can’t see beyond that (what sub you actually read, your username, password, comment, etc) since most sites and apps already use encryption. The site you visit obviously still sees whatever you’re doing regardless of VPN, they will still sell your data and activity to advertisers & governments, and when the site is breached your data will still leak all over the internet, etc.
Adblockers can help a bit with third-party tracking (ie, they can prevent Google from knowing what type of articles you read on non-Google-owned sites), but not first-party (Google will always see what videos you’re watching on YouTube). Even if you don’t have an account, sites can still correlate your VPN and non-VPN activity since your browser accepts their cookies, or at least presents a relatively unique fingerprint. With apps assume that it will try to read as much as it can from your device.
I apologize in advance for probably not being of much help with the specific problem(s) you’re having, simply ignore me if you’re set on using a vpn and just want tech support. Also, beware, I’m a total layman and all of my “knowledge” comes from being a long time curious computer (networks) user - everything I say should be taken with a grain of salt and double checked.
What exactly is driving your desire to use a vpn? You’ve mentioned your fear of “bad actors” getting access to your private data… what data about you do you consider private enough to warrant an additional “identity protection layer” that isn’t already protected in transit by tls and/or similar technologies? Who do you consider “bad actors”?
For instance, you probably (Chromebook etc) use google services a lot. Payed? Gave your phone no / address? Logged into Google all the time? Using their search engine to jumpstart your internet adventures? Well, at least Google knows a lot about you. In this case, not just as an entity on the internet that is identifiable/trackable in a sense someone (Google) can identify and track as the same entity in different places but personally identifiable. Facebook? TikTok? Amazon? PayPal?Are they bad actors? I don’t know. Even if they’re not, is there a possibility some bad actors could steal your data / data on you from them? Probably. Can that be avoided (just) by using a vpn? I wouldn’t say so.
Are you afraid someone might be “eavesdropping on your line”? AFAIK most of the services a kind of user I suspect you could be is going to use on the internet are going to be encrypted and modern browsers throw a fit if you try and connect to an “unsecure server/site”, so an “eavesdropper” should be able to see at most the sites/services you connect to, not the data exchanged. I suspect most of the private data “stolen” on the internet is provided by the “victims” themselves either by entering / giving their data to a wrong service by mistake or installing malware on their appliance, not by a third party decrypting encrypted communication.
What I wish to convey is - VPNs can be good for some/many things, can even probably provide a layer of privacy in a sense but I’d suggest you inform yourself on the subject more thoroughly before jumping the gun - at least so you know what exactly are the expected benefits from using a vpn and other ways you could be mindful of how you use the internet / your appliances if privacy is important to you. Oh, and what exactly you want to keep private and from whom.
REPEAT DISCLAIMER: I’m a total layman; I know just barely enough to be able to imagine roughly how much I don’t know. Don’t take anything I write at face value, triple check.
Hey friendo. It would be wise to keep your age private especially if you not very tech savvy. Lot’s of unscrupulous types looking to take advantage of someone like you. Stay safe
The VPN setup is simple and straightforward for most of them. But all it will do is ‘hide’ you. If you are looking to download something that is copyrighted - like a movie, commercial game, tv show, etc. without first paying for it then a VPN is a necessity in many countries.
If you are simply looking to be safe online downloading ‘normal’ content then it’s not going to help you much. Can you give us any more specifics about what you are looking to do?
You don’t need a VPN. If you are worried about the government tracking you then you might try a VPN to help hide - but you are deep in paranoia and issues at that point. If you want to access resources limited to other countries by license such as video streaming then you could try a VPN to get around the law/implementation.
When you buy a consumer VPN you are trusting the at best shady VPN providers more than your local (who also might be shady) network provider. Frankly it’s a foolish bet and a great way to waste money for almost everyone.
If you don’t understand how they work, and you can’t articulate what it will do, why do you think you need one?
Virtually every financial transaction is encrypted already. If you read mail thru the Gmail client, it’s encrypted. Everything that matters is already encrypted.
All you’re doing is adding latency to your apps and risking geographical address banning
Friend, you probably need to tell us what exactly you want to secure. People steal your password/identity? People gain control of your computer? Living in a dictatorship country who sniff everything you do online? Want to bypass geographical restriction and stream videos not in your country? Want to do piracy without being caught? Or anything else?
If you worry about downloading something that do shady things on your computer, what you want is probably an antivirus. And actually downloading something from official sources is generally fine.
Sign up - create a username (any word or name of your liking) and a password (any word again but this should be secret and something you won’t forget and that others can’t guess) then after you submit you can now “sign in” which is that text box.
Just as an FYI unapproved VPNs, pretty much all non-Chinise ones, are illegal in China. They can and will charge foreigners with a crime that have them on their devices.
Lol, …using VPNs for anonymization is not the only use case for VPNs
So saying you shouldn’t trust every shady VPN provider instead of not trusting your local provider is just right.
VPNs where there long before public VPN providers got available.
