Complete newbie to VPN here. I’ve been reading several beginner’s guides and noticed something disturbing in one of them. PrivacyAffairs’ guide states that “if you connect to a VPN and log into your [Facebook] account, that VPN IP can now be tied to your personal Facebook account and identity.” It later says “You will also need to avoid using that … VPN connection for your regular internet activities (Gmail, Facebook, etc); otherwise, your VPN IP can be tied to your online identity.”
I haven’t seen this mentioned in any of the other guides I’ve read. Is it true? If so, then it seems a VPN doesn’t do much to protect your identity if you can’t actually use it for anything without exposing yourself. For example, if you have a Google Chrome account, can you even open an internet window safely, or does it ruin your VPN IP? And if you slip up and accidentally use your VPN for something like checking your email, is it useless forever, or is there a way to get a new VPN IP?
I really appreciate any advice. I’m thinking about getting a VPN, but it’s a lot of money to buy a 2-year subscription, and I want to make sure I understand it completely first. Thanks!
The following is a little bit simplified.
Imagine you have no VPN. Every Website knows your IP that you get from your ISP. A lot of ISPs reconnect after 24h, so each day every website known another IP from you.
Now you use an VPN. Every Website knows now the IP from the VPN Server. (Only you (or your router), the VPN Client and the VPN Server knows the IP from the ISP now. The ISP can’t see your data transfer or the website that you visit.) This IP change each time you VPN client establish a new connection, e.g. you auto start the VPN Client at windows startup. While the vpn is running, and you do not reconnect, this is the same IP.
There are exceptions. Not all ISPs reconnect each 24h. Some VPNs offer static IPs as an optional feature. I am not sure how long you have the same VPN IP if neither the ISP reconnect you nor you restart the VPN Client.
So, for websites both is the same. They assign the IP with you in both cases for the current day. The ISP knows you as a person e.g. postal address. The state or attorneys can assign the public IP from the ISP with you directly, with an VPN this is not possible. If your ISP is in e.g. England the websites knows that you come from England. With an VPN you change your location for websites.
VPN for anonymity yes, VPN for privacy… that’s another question.
It would really be beneficial if people would read prior discussions on this over used topic.
VPN does not protect your “identity”. It masks your real IP address.
Why would you use a vpn to hide your identity and then proceed to visit a domain that requires your identity.
Thats an oxymoron!!!
Thank you, this is very helpful. So it’s best to only turn on the VPN when it’s needed, and not to use it for everyday stuff like checking email, right?
You check your eMails [email protected]. Either example.com is the address from you ISP, e.g. from Microsoft and it’s the same address for your office 365 subscription, the email contains your last amazon purchases… I hope you see the problem. If you send and receive the emails with your ISP or VPN IP not really change anything for privacy or anonymity. Privacy and anonymity would be only better if you would us e.g. a temporary eMail alias or something else. Same as Facebook, Twitter/X, Google or anything, if you login the IP is more or less unimportant. A VPN also not prevent you from e.g. you see your last amazon purchase on Facebook or that you get e.g. Cookies.
I sum, a VPN is only one step for better anonymity and privacy.