VPNs are exploding in popularity as people all over the world realize their benefits. Something many don’t know is that mobile devices account for between 55% – 80% of VPN use depending on who you ask. On average people spend more time browsing the internet, watching movies and scrolling through social media on Android and iOS than they do on Windows and Mac. It makes a lot of sense to safeguard your privacy and unlock a world of content on your phone too. Let’s take a look at 5 reasons you probably need a VPN for your phone.
1. Unblock Geo Blocked Content
VPNs or virtual private networks let us trick sites and services into thinking that we are accessing them from a different country to the one we live in. Why would you want to do this? Well, there’s a lot of movies, TV shows, crypto exchanges, websites and software which are blocked in some countries.
US Netflix has 100s of titles that aren’t available overseas.
The UK has SkySports, a streaming service with 11 channels and solid coverage of cricket, football, rugby, F1, Boxing, MMA and more. Hulu is another popular US streaming service that comes bundled with Disney + and ESPN.
Unfortunately, this massive library of content has limited availability around the world. Rights holders restrict content to geographical areas, imaginary lines on the map and wonder why piracy exists.
2. Bypass Work’s Security
Connecting to the WiFi at work can mean losing access to the “non-productive” sites and services. It’s not as common as it used to be, but there are still workplaces that block access to social media, video streaming sites, dating services, and online shopping.
Hey, boss man! We are adults. We can do our jobs and shop for a birthday present for our mothers on Amazon. To get around workplace censorship on the smaller, discrete phone screens, use a VPN. A VPN will route traffic through a server and hide the real intended destination. You’ll be watching YouTube on the toilet before you know it.
3. Hide Browsing Activity From Your ISP
When you connect to the public internet via a VPN your ISP can’t see what sites you are visiting. All they know is that they are routing your traffic to a remote server, aka the VPN server. To understand how this works, you can think of a VPN as a mail forwarder. The client, installed on your computer, takes the letter continining your internet traffic and wraps it in another encrypted envelope, addressed to the VPN server. Once it arrives at the VPN server, this first encrypted envelope is opened and the traffic is forwarded on to its intended address.
4. Hide Public IP Addresses From The Sites That You Visit
The other privacy benefit to using a VPN is the site you’re visiting thinks that the query originated at the VPN server. The original envelope addressed to the VPN server from your phone or computer has been discarded severing the link back to your home computer. If you have some unsavory browsing habits, like to download the occasional torrent, or just don’t like the idea of people knowing that you’re on their site then a VPN is a no-brainer. It’s not enough to have that security on your computer. You need it on your phone too. You can click here to download surfshark android.
5. Security and Privacy on Public Wifi
We connect to far more public WiFi networks on our phones than we do our laptops, and our desktops rarely leave the house if ever. It makes the most sense to ensure there’s an extra layer of encryption protecting us when we are on these shared networks. There’s readily available software that can listen to all communication on public WiFi networks.
It’s true that the majority of the internet uses HTTPS and is therefore already encrypted. It’s estimated that upwards of 80% of sites have made the switch. But 80% isn’t 100%. If you’re recycling passwords and your internet banking password is exposed on a site with unsecure HTTP there’s a chance that could come back to bite you. A VPN forces encryption everywhere, protecting you on public WiFi.
In Summary
There are numerous reasons to get a VPN on your phone. They aren’t just for computers. In fact there are more VPNs used on mobiles than their larger screen counterparts. With a VPN you can view content that’s blocked in your region, hide your browsing history from your ISP, and you get a security boost on public WiFi. Well worth the small monthly investment.
