Contrary to what many people believe, a VPN does not completely protect your anonymity and privacy by itself. There are several things that users have to keep in mind in order to remain anonymous online. The biggest culprits when it comes to de-anonymizing you are trackers and cookies. Most every website you visit, plus most of the world’s biggest web-based services place cookies on your computer may collect information on your system and Internet usage that can be used to identify you.
In fact, many of these cookies stay active long after you have discontinued use of the services that put the cookies on there in the first place. Always be sure to have at least a free VPN for your PC, or as they say in Italy, “VPN gratis PC” to ensure that your connection is encrypted, but always remember to delete the cookies and trackers once your browsing session has come to an end.
Consider the Tor network for true anonymity
For true anonymity VPNs are not the first choice. VPN services are subject to the laws and regulations of the country’s they are based in which means they can be obliged to supply information on their users to government agencies. Many VPN services do advertise no log policies but there are usually differences and what “no logging” means to different VPN companies.
The best thing to do when you’re looking for complete anonymity is to use the Tor network. Tor operates differently than VPN services do, and it is much more difficult to track and interpret data sent over the Tor network. The added level of security does, however, come at a price as it is much slower to connect over tour than it is to go through a VPN client.
Where the VPN is based matters
As mentioned, VPN companies can be asked by local governments for cooperation in investigating illegal activities conducted online. Depending on the country that the VPN services are based in, what that cooperation entails can mean different things. In the United States, companies offering VPN services are required to log certain types of information and traffic.
Some countries, however, like Panama, do not require VPN’s to log or track any information from their users. One of the most famous VPN services from Panama is NordVPN, but when it comes to trusting their policies and the laws of the local government it is up to the user to decide whether their data is in safe hands.
One trust issue that many people have with VPN services when it comes to their personal information and privacy is that an account must be set up with the company providing the VPN service wherein the user provides address information and payment details which can easily identify the user.
For many, going with a free VPN service that does not require personal information to get started is a good first step to ensuring anonymity. So, when our friends in Italy are looking for a VPN gratis Italia that can both protect their data and their privacy, will keeping the VPNs limits in mind while maintaining smart Internet usage practices is a workable solution for maintaining privacy online.