Is it worth having a linux VPN? As I was reading this page
and thought that would it be necessary or just an extra protection.
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 How secure is a VPN? What makes a safe VPN? | Norton 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: Proton VPN - About Us | Proton VPN. 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
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.
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:
VPN for Dummies (VPN Explained) | ExpressVPN
https://www.digitalconnectmag.com/how-does-vpn-work-privacy-basics-for-beginners/
What Is a VPN? Beginner’s Guide, Explained by Experts (2024)
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 Help Spread DuckDuckGo. DDG has one of the shortest (and best) privacy statements I’ve encountered (DuckDuckGo Privacy Policy).
Other secure search engines are https://www.oscobo.com/ (British, I think) and https://swisscows.ch/.
Keith
Got it thanks again for the detailed response
Hello Mike,
Jolly good.
Please edit the title of your first post to add “[Solved]”.
Thank you.
Keith
Done