I’d take it a step further and say it’s not even a use of a VPN at all. If you want to browse the web anonymously a VPN doesn’t provide that guarantee: it only affects your source IP, which most services probably understand is unreliable for tracking purposes anyway.
Even for changing your IP to aid in being anonymous on the web, TOR is the network layer tool to use, because you will have a much wider range of source IPs than the single one you’ll get from the VPN, but there is still so much work to do to “browse the web anonymously”.
I think a lot of people don’t understand VPNs. They’re great privacy tools if you don’t trust the local network or your ISP, as all traffic is typically encrypted and headed for the same server, but being anonymous on the web is way more involved because you are much more than your IP address.
Btw I’m not replying here thinking you don’t understand all that; just expanding on the conversation
Yeah, and the second you log into your account on a website, you’re already identified. VPNs are great privacy tools, but they’re not a one-stop solution for anonymity.
It’s not the only use. VPNs can be used to access local servers remotely, for example your jobs server while WFH.
I’d take it a step further and say it’s not even a use of a VPN at all. If you want to browse the web anonymously a VPN doesn’t provide that guarantee: it only affects your source IP, which most services probably understand is unreliable for tracking purposes anyway.
Even for changing your IP to aid in being anonymous on the web, TOR is the network layer tool to use, because you will have a much wider range of source IPs than the single one you’ll get from the VPN, but there is still so much work to do to “browse the web anonymously”.
I think a lot of people don’t understand VPNs. They’re great privacy tools if you don’t trust the local network or your ISP, as all traffic is typically encrypted and headed for the same server, but being anonymous on the web is way more involved because you are much more than your IP address.
Btw I’m not replying here thinking you don’t understand all that; just expanding on the conversation
Would you mind going a little more into depth about the aspects of anonymity other than masking the IP address you think people are unaware of?
Yeah, and the second you log into your account on a website, you’re already identified. VPNs are great privacy tools, but they’re not a one-stop solution for anonymity.