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Staying private online can feel impossible. Everywhere you go, someone’s tracking you — advertisers, websites, even your internet service provider. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is often referred to as one of the best ways to protect your privacy, but how much does it actually hide? Is a VPN enough to keep you fully anonymous? Let’s find out.
A VPN hides much of your personal data and online behavior, keeping your activity private and shielding it from third parties, such as your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or the websites you visit. Let’s take a closer look at what a VPN can actually conceal:
While a VPN protects a lot of your information online, even the best VPN for privacy can’t make you completely anonymous, and some information can still be visible or trackable:
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The very core of a VPN is encryption — the process where your data is scrambled so that only authorized parties can read it, keeping hackers, ISPs, and other snoops out of your business.
When you connect to a VPN, it creates a secure tunnel between your device and the VPN server. All your internet traffic — from website requests to file downloads — travels through that tunnel in encrypted form. Since only the VPN server and your device hold the keys to decrypt it, if someone tries to intercept your data, all they would see is unreadable code.
You may wonder why you would need a VPN for privacy when you can browse in incognito mode. However, the level of privacy VPNs and private browsing modes provide is very different.
Incognito mode only prevents your browser from saving local data like history, cookies, and form entries on your own device. Your ISP and the websites you visit can still see your online activity.
A VPN, on the other hand, protects your privacy beyond the browser. It hides your IP address, encrypts your internet traffic, and prevents third-party observers from tracking what you do online.
Think of incognito mode as cleaning up your footprints on your computer, while a VPN hides your entire online trail from everyone else.
A VPN provides essential protections for your online privacy: it masks your IP address, hides your real location, and encrypts your data. However, there are some areas that a VPN alone can’t fully cover.
The bottom line — privacy isn’t about using one tool, but about layering your safeguards. Combine a VPN with tools like antivirus software, data leak alerts, and private search engines, and you’ll be better equipped to secure your life online.
Protect your data and keep your online activity yours with a VPN
When you use a VPN, your online traffic is encrypted, which means your ISP, hackers, and websites can’t see what you’re doing online. However, your VPN provider could still access some metadata if it doesn’t follow a strict no-logs policy. Always choose a reputable, no-logs VPN like Surfshark for maximum privacy.
Not entirely — a VPN provides strong privacy protection, but doesn’t make you completely anonymous. Factors like browser cookies, device identifiers, account logins, or information you share online can still reveal parts of your digital footprint.
While it’s much harder to track you with a VPN, it’s still possible in some cases. Websites can still follow your activity through cookies or when you’re signed into an account. For stronger protection, combine a VPN with tracker blockers or privacy-focused search engines (you can get all of that with Surfshark’s cybersecurity suite).
Yes, a VPN hides your IP address by replacing it with the IP of a secure VPN server. This ensures that your online activity remains private and prevents websites, advertisers, and your ISP from tracking, recording, or misusing your real IP address.
A VPN masks your actual location by routing your traffic through a VPN server, making it look as if you’re browsing from the server’s location. This can help you protect your privacy or access your home content while traveling abroad.
Your ISP may track and store your browsing history, often for marketing purposes or data-sharing regulations. A VPN app encrypts your traffic, keeping your activity private and out of the ISP’s reach.
To test if your VPN is working, connect to your VPN and visit a website that displays your IP address — like Surfshark’s What is my IP? page. If the IP address shown matches the VPN server location you’re connected to, your VPN is functioning correctly.
You can also run DNS (Domain Name System) and WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) leaks tests to confirm your online activity is fully protected.
Turn on Surfshark VPN and make every connection safe in seconds — it’s that easy!
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