Why you (probably) don't need a VPN

Everywhere you look online, companies are trying to sell you a VPN (Virtual Private Network), it's the in-thing these days. Getting online using a VPN will 'keep you safe' they say. And they're absolutely right.

Except that you're absolutely safe without a VPN too - don't believe the scare stories. You see, every Internet-facing application, including web browsers, in 2024, accesses data over an already-secure  connection. The layers of encryption already in place as you access, for example, your iMessages or Gmail, mean that there's nothing bad guys could do even if they were to somehow intercept random batches of your over-the-air 1s and 0s.

But why not pay a subscription and use a VPN anyway, I hear you say - isn't that just even more security? Well... it's over the top security. And the main effect of paying out for a VPN for regular online activity is that it will make that activity significantly slower, because of all the extra encryption being done. So pages will take longer to load, videos will buffer more, and so on.

You just don't need a VPN. You really don't. Even in a dodgy cyber cafe in Turkey. Your own encryption, built into your OS and applications, is quite enough. (Just make sure to log out of anything on a third party computer/browser after use!)

However, there's one caveat to all this, one potential use for a VPN, and I'm sure you've thought of it too - heck I used it a few times myself. And that's to use a VPN's ability to fake where you are in the world to a service that you're accessing. Which is borderline illegal, or at least against the terms of service of whichever service you're accessing. But hey, we've all done this at some point, so...

My core point remains though - VPNs significantly increase bandwidth and overhead for you, the user, and most of the time aren't needed at all. So why bother? Save your money and resources, I contend!