One in six Brits now use a VPN—mainly for accessing blocked content (techradar.com).
But what sort of nefarious “blocked content” would that be for those 1 in 6, certainly at least several must be living in your road.
“Almost one in six people in the UK are now using a VPN (or proxy server) with their internet connection—and half of those folks have turned to a VPN in order to get access to region-locked sites or services, according to new research. … when questioned as to the reason why, the most prevalent answer from 48% of respondents was that they wanted access to region-locked websites. In other words, geo-restricted content that’s only supposed to be experienced by people from a certain country.”
But while “better security or privacy” are also touted, that maybe case for premium (i.e. paid for) VPN (Virtual private network) services NOT to be confused with the abundance of free proxy server sites which, although changing an IP that may have been blocked or banned should not be used to login to anything, frequently having software installed to look for logins in what is know as a “man in the middle” eavesdropping attack (Wikipedia): What are the dangers of using proxy servers? (techmaal.com).
Regional lockout or just copyright infringing?
But while “regional lockout” (Wikipedia) is even increasingly frequent for that related to US shows restricted to US shores on GoogleTube and such I wonder if “region-locked” is actually confused with “copyright infringed” for many download music, films and porn from sites and cloud storage.
And for targeted ads?
Avoiding targeted ads is also put forward as reason for increased use, and I can certainly empathise with that:
“24% of those surveyed said they used a VPN to access sites which are blocked at home or work, and the same percentage had VPN software to cut down on the amount of targeted adverts they’re forced to watch. Decreasing spam was the goal of 19% of respondents who had used a VPN.”
Surely though, the use of a VPN which inevitable will involve slower access speeds while it encrypts, takes detour and then decrypts does not match telling your browser to ask not to be tracked, blocking annoying cookies that take no notice of that (looking at you Facebook and Google)—and indeed perhaps not using such services who’s revenue is based mainly on ads, use of an ad blocker and finding alternatives to sites that claim they cannot provide content without supposed “quality” but often dodgy and full of snake oil ads swamping your your connection with God know’s exactly what.
Alternatives
Perhaps even using a search engine for the majority of searches which specifically does not track you, you are several to choose from, such as DuckDuckGo or Start Page/Ixquick (Wikipedia).
And if more anonymity besides knowing what you searched for is required, perhaps the free TOR browser (Wikipedia), loved by whitlseblowers, nefarious dark webbers and undercover cops alike. Bearing in mind though as with all such, unless you really were keen on the speeds you used to get with your 56k modem it’s best used only when necessary and not for all your web surfing.
Needless to say, a choice pick of the “best VPNs” 1—and hopefully more—of those 6 Brits could pay to use follows in the article.
Recent/related stories
- Google takes anti-trust Android search blow in Russia (Latest Picks 18th April 2017)
- Microsoft Edge comes last in browser security battle (Latest Picks 26th March 2017)
- Theresa May’s desire to see your browser history & watch jihadis pulling one off on FaceTime in her parochial Lil’ English vicarage passes into law with Snoopers Charter 2 (thisisnocave.blogspot.co.uk, 18th November 2016)
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