Nearly Half of Americans Are Using a VPN

Ah, VPNs. Whether it’s Netflix whining about subscribers using them to circumvent geographical restrictions or horny people using them to watch porn, you’ve been hearing a lot about them lately, haven’t you?

That’s because more people are using them now than ever before. The best of the best are affordable and transparent about how they run their businesses. There’s no good reason for anyone not to use one, even if they’re just a regular Joey.

CNET likes to run surveys, and they released a recent one about VPN usage that found that 43% of Americans are using a VPN. The numbers rise for younger generations, with 50% of Millennials and Gen Zers in the US using VPNs.

The reasons are myriad. Check out what respondents to CNET’s poll gave as their reasons for using one. Not surprisingly, privacy and online security topped the list.

wait, what’s a VPN? and why do I need it?

VPN stands for virtual private network. Think of it like a trusted middleman who handles all your digital information as it flows into and out of your computer.

Rather than having to show your unique IP address to every weird and wack job website on the internet, you pass your data to the VPN server, which passes it to the website. Then it does so in reverse.

The VPN maintains a layer of separation between you and every website you visit. If a creep or a snoop—a bad actor—tries to track you across the web, they’ll get as far as the VPN server you’re connected to.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t still get a good ad-blocker, such as uBlock Origin, and know which cookies (if any) you want to allow. But it goes a long way toward protecting your privacy and security online.

VPNs are especially critical when using a shared network. And if that shared network doesn’t have a password or has one that’s freely provided to anyone who asks or reads a sign, like at a café or airport, then you’re absolutely exposed without a VPN.

As a digital security reviewer who’s been in the space for many years, I urge everybody to use a VPN full-time on all their devices—computers, smartphones, and tablets. Most cost only $5-10 per month, and the internet speed hit (for the good ones) is negligible.

Don’t know where to start? This survey is great timing, because I’ve been reviewing VPNs this past month, and there are three I’m particularly fond of: NordVPN, Mullvad VPN, and Proton VPN.

The last one even has a free tier. When is anything free these days? I can’t even buy a damn egg.