VPN for linux [Solved]

[mikekane]

Is it worth having a linux VPN? As I was reading this page
https://www.purevpn.com/download/linux-vpn
and thought that would it be necessary or just an extra protection.

[Keith]

Hello Mikekane - and welcome to the Forum.

Virtual Private Networks aren't necessary but can be useful.  For example; I object to the way Google tracks one all over the web and accumulates information about users gathered from all Google's applications that are being used increasingly by your everyday, high-street company.  So if I need to use Google Maps (which I have to say is very good) I use a VPN to hide my location and IP address. 

But it's not all plain-sailing.  Free VPNs are free for a reason, just as Google & Facebook are, so one might think that a paid-for VPN service would be better but this is not always the case.  This link https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-privacy-safe-vpn.html from Norton (of anti-virus fame) explains VPNs and what to look out for. 

There are trustworthy VPN services available for free: I use the free version of protonvpn - look here for pricing plans: https://protonvpn.com/about.  The free version is supported by the income they receive from those who pay.  Proton mail also has a free mail service that is ultra secure - do look at https://protonmail.com/.  All communication between you and their servers is encrypted and if you lose your password, they can't help you as even they can't access your files!

Overall; I would say that the use of a VPN depends on how keen you are to avoid even your ISP snooping on you, and if you decide to use one I thoroughly recommend Protonvpn (and Protonmail). 

Keith

[mikekane]

Thanks a lot for detailed response
But I have doubt on one point that if you use a VPN for google maps then you can change your IP address but how are you going to change your location? as google will easily pinpoint it with geo location services.

[Keith]

Google pinpoints the location of the VPN server - your location is entirely hidden behind the VPN.  This website gives a very good overview of how VPNs work: https://thebestvpn.com/what-is-vpn-beginners-guide/.
Here are some others, and a web search will reveal many more:
https://www.expressvpn.com/what-is-vpn/vpn-for-dummies
https://www.digitalconnectmag.com/how-does-vpn-work-privacy-basics-for-beginners/
https://www.wizcase.com/blog/what-is-a-vpn-a-beginners-guide/

By the way:  To avoid being tracked by Google I recommend that you don't use the Google search engine (although they have other ways!) but use DuckDuckGo instead.  This is a very secure search provider that doesn't track you or provide your details to anyone else.  I suggest that you take a look at https://duckduckgo.com/spread.  DDG has one of the shortest (and best) privacy statements I've encountered (https://duckduckgo.com/privacy).

Other secure search engines are https://www.oscobo.com/ (British, I think) and https://swisscows.ch/. 

Keith

[mikekane]

Got it thanks again for the  detailed response

[Keith]

Hello Mike,

Jolly good.

Please edit the title of your first post to add "[Solved]".
Thank you.

Keith

[mikekane]

Done