Why You Should Always Use a VPN

Every day, thousands of advertising companies, ISPs, and governments harvest personal data through our devices to profile us, monitor our locations, and monetize our online activity.

A VPN neutralizes most of these tracking vectors by encrypting your traffic at the device level before it leaves your network.

The recommendations below are un-sponsored and vetted against strict criteria: proven zero-logs policies, independent audits, and strong community trust. They will not hand over data under court order because they do not log it in the first place.

What Does a VPN Actually Do?

A VPN is not a magic cure-all. It is a targeted privacy tool with clear strengths and distinct limits.

When you connect to a VPN, you substitute your ISP with the VPN server. All data passing between your device and that server is encrypted inside a secure tunnel—blinding your ISP, local network admins, and network eavesdroppers.

The Real Threats You Face

1. Public Wi-Fi

Public networks in cafes, hotels, or airports are rarely secure. Network operators and nearby packet sniffers can easily monitor traffic and tie activity directly to your device—especially if your MAC address isn't randomized.

While HTTPS hides specific page content, your destination domain is broadcast in plain text unless your DNS queries are encrypted. Anyone on the network can see that you connected to Wikipedia, YouTube, or your bank.

2. ISP Logging

Your ISP sits directly in your data path, recording detailed logs of your internet usage. In many jurisdictions, ISPs hand this data to state agencies without court orders or sell it directly to commercial data brokers.

3. Location Tracking and IP Exposure

Apps combine your IP address with unique device IDs, MAC addresses, and app inventories to build persistent behavioral profiles.

A single mobile app or game can share telemetry with hundreds of data brokers behind the scenes. Most users only realize the scale of this surveillance when their personal details surface in a breach from a broker they never directly interacted with.

4. Internet Censorship

Governments and ISPs routinely restrict or block access to independent news, communication tools, and educational resources to control narrative flow.

A VPN bypasses these artificial blocks by routing your traffic through uncensored regions, restoring access to the open web.

What VPNs Can't Protect Against

1. Phishing, Malware, and Malicious Downloads

A VPN encrypts transport; it does not filter bad content. It cannot stop malware downloads, phishing links, or user error. While providers like Mullvad, IVPN, and Proton offer optional DNS-level blocking for ads and malware, basic digital hygiene—careful downloading, link verification, and browser choice—remains your primary defense.

VPN-based DNS blocking is often basic compared to dedicated privacy resolvers like Quad9 or NextDNS. Pairing your VPN with a custom, no-logs DNS resolver provides tighter control over tracking and malware filtering.

Read my deep dive on DNS resolvers here.

2. Browser Fingerprinting and Script Tracking

A new IP address will not hide you from client-side tracking. Scripts executing in your browser can collect hardware specs, font lists, and screen configurations to build a unique fingerprint that tracks you across IP changes.

To learn how to mitigate browser-level tracking:

• Guide to Browser Fingerprinting
• Understanding Location Tracking Vectors

What Makes a VPN Good?

• Independently audited no-logs infrastructure.
• Fully open-source client applications across all platforms.
• Transparent corporate ownership and jurisdiction.
• Essential security features: kill switch, IPv6 leak protection, and DNS leak protection.
• Support for modern protocols like WireGuard.
• Anonymous registration and cash/crypto payment options.
• A proven history of operational transparency during security incidents.

Top VPN Picks

1. Mullvad VPN

Mullvad remains the gold standard for anonymous VPNs. Account creation requires no email address or personal details—only a randomly generated 16-digit account number.

They accept cash by mail and cryptocurrency alongside standard payments, completely unlinking your financial identity from your VPN account.

All client apps are fully open-source, cross-platform, and regularly audited by third parties.

2. IVPN

IVPN mirrors Mullvad’s privacy-first model: account creation without personal identifiers, open-source codebases, and independent security audits.

It features native multi-hop routing for added anonymity, though its total server footprint is smaller than larger competitors.

3. Windscribe

Windscribe combines open-source apps with extensive client-side customization options and transparent security disclosure.

Its free tier provides a generous monthly data allowance. You can unlock additional bandwidth by posting on social media—a cheap marketing gimmick, but functional if you need extra data.

4. Proton VPN

Proton VPN combines audited open-source infrastructure with a globally distributed server network. Its free tier offers unlimited bandwidth without speed throttling.

Proton offers a full privacy suite (Mail, Drive, Calendar). However, centralizing all personal data within a single provider creates a single point of failure. Consider spreading critical services across independent providers rather than relying on one ecosystem.

Conclusion

A VPN isn't total protection, but it reliably solves network-level surveillance. You generate valuable telemetry every time you connect; paying for or configuring a trustworthy VPN isn't an arbitrary expense—it is reclaiming control over the network traffic you produce every day.