What is a VPN?
Xkalq VPN, and most consumer-used VPNs, are classed as "personal VPN". VPN wraps an encrypting shield around your internet traffic, hiding your location (i.e. IP address), to protect your online identity, and even hides your doings, by redirecting your traffic's destination.
VPN stands for “Virtual Private Network”, which was originally invented for "remote access" uses, not "personal" use, like branch offices, to allow them secure and private access, into main-office's local resources (i.e. network), through simulating being in-person at main-office (beside their local-devices, and connected to their network).
Personal VPNs are like remote access VPNs, with the deference that, personal VPNs simulate being in their server's location, instead of simulating being in your workplace.
Cases where we need to have VPN?
Well if you want to:- Simply protect yourself, from all sorts of spying (of location, images, bank-account and ...).
- Use Apps that need internet, and are rarely secure by themself alone (VPN adds the extra layer security).
- Access any site restricted in your country (or in country you made a journey to), VPN changes your IP address, simulating being in a country of your choice.
- Use public Wi-Fi, like Hotels, Coffee-shops or Airports, where most times criminals wait for spying.
- Avoid government surveillance (which's sometimes sold to other governments).
- Use sites not supporting HTTPS (where S stands for secure).
- Use file-sharing services (P2P), limited by internet providers to discourage users (but VPN removes the limits).
Key takeaways here
No one will know your real location (e.g. IP address), unless you enable your devices GPS , or you manually tell Web-Sites and third-parties.
VPN hugely boosts online security and privacy, thanks to VPN's encryption, third-parties can not spy on your activity, not even your internet provider company or government; no one can see what you're doing.
In some cases, using VPN is even faster than without, because internet-providers may limit something you use.