This is a new one on me and I came across it by way of an advert on Facebook. Apparently, if you avoid the cheap or free crap and go premium, you have a service that doesn't log your activity and offers secure encryption for important data such as credit card transactions online.

A couple of things occurred to me. Firstly I thought that genuine sites such as Amazon with https were fully secure anyway and secondly, if this hides your activity from your internet provider such as Sky, isn't it open to use by the crims? They could be pervs or even terrorists and communicate freely.

Anyone with technical expertise able to clarify?  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

....not to mention that your Kodi viewing content will be invisible too........  Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

I'm sure that pervs and terrorists do use VPN's to hide their location but there are legitimate uses.

They can provide a secure channel if you are using an access point in an unsecured location, coffee shops, hotels etc.

VPNs also hide your browsing history, a valuable commodity to an advertiser, which is why the US Senate passed a bill allowing ISP's to sell it, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/0...vertisers/

If it happens in the US, the UK won't be far behind.

I used a VPN into the UK to make Sky, NetFlix et al, think I was in the UK.

Steve D wrote:

....not to mention that your Kodi viewing content will be invisible too........

Until a further ruling changes the law, streaming is ok for now.

"If you were to download an illegally copied file, that would constitute copyright infringement. However, when you stream something online, the file is stored only temporarily on your computer - and temporary copies are exempt from copyright laws.

In a landmark ruling in 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that internet users who look at copyrighted material online aren't breaking the law by doing so, citing Article 5.1 of the EU Copyright Directive.

It stated that copies of copyrighted material that appear "on the users computer screen" and "in the internet 'cache' of that computer's hard disk" are "temporary" and "may therefore be made without the authorisation of the copyright holders"." LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

I use paid for Hotspot Shield. When I was working I travelled overseas weekly and used it to access Sky and U.K. TV on my iPad. I still use it for security on open free wifi networks on my iPhone and pad in places like shopping centres and coffee shops. What you do find though is that at certain access points such as say a hotel you may not be able to connect via a vpn , probably to protect their Pay TV revenue ! My works laptop always had a private corporate VPN for security . Your ISP still knows you are connecting through a VPN service when you are at home . 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

I use VPN daily - I have to connect to remote industrial plants to diagnose faults (yes the plant has stopped Sir, someone has pressed E.Stop number 7) saves me a lot of unnecessary travel.
You as an industrial user wouldn't want some 15 year old with a point to prove to his mates, screwing with you multimillion pound chemical plant. Then again you wouldn't want your competitors knowing you recipe for your cakes (food producers are very security conscious), by interrogating your automated plant. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

I might give a VPN a little trial as I read that ISP's 'throttle' i.e. slow down or restrict, access to certain sites, mainly live sports feeds such as Sky or BT sports and PPV events. I'm pretty sure Sky and BT restrict access to those services for free when going through their networks to protect their interests. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.