All of the time you see commercials on TV / Internet for VPN (Virtual Private Network) services like Nord VPN, Express VPN, Private InternetAccess and many other. These things must be great because they protect you from all of the bad stuff out there. No more prying eyes on your web searches, you can do online transactions with no worries, right?

It is true that a third party could be checking out what your doing is a VPN the best way to solve that?

What is a VPN?

A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network via a secure connect to a proxy server. The proxy acts as a shield the hiding your IP address from the site your visiting, your Internet Service Provider, the NSA, and any man in the middle attack. Sounds good so far.

What’s the Problem?

The problem is VPNs is in everyday use they make it impossible to use many services. In order to use Netflix you may have to turn off the VPN. Your bank may ask you to jump through hoops to connect to your account when your IP address is from somewhere your not. Besides that you probably don’t need it in these instances. Your Google and your ISP may know that your going to PNC Bank and Netflix but they have no idea what your doing there because of the TLS built into your web-browser connecting you securely to that site. On occasion a poor site might be misconfigured and leaking information but this is rare.

If your logged to Google using Chrome or both they know where your going so does Facebook, Microsoft and others.