I have been a fairly old subscriber for PIA, and I do enjoy privacy that PIA gives.
However, I am not really sure what PIA REALLY does.
Is it only the privacy that protects? Can anyone explain what their premium features are like I am a dumbass since my subscription recently expired and want to renew it?
Thanks!
For a 5 year old? OK here goes…
Imagine someone you don’t want to see you is waiting outside. If you walk out of your house they will see you!
If you walk through an underground tunnel to another house a few streets away and then walk outside they don’t see you!
That’s how a VPN works
When you use the internet, all your requests are tagged with your internet protocol address (so the other end can reply).
Usually this address can be traced to your general geographical area by anyone receiving requests from your computer, and relevant authorities can obtain your personal details from your ISP with a subpoena.
PIA makes your requests come from one of their servers in a location of your choice, and don’t store any information about which PIA account the requests came from - so your internet requests can no longer be traced to you.
However, PIA (by itself) doesn’t prevent you from downloading malware or your browser being tracked across websites or choosing to submit your personal information to websites or anything like that - so it’s not a privacy panacea, just one useful element.
The only premium feature I’m aware of PIA offering is a dedicated IP, which just makes it so that you get a specific PIA server address that all your requests come from, and no other PIA customers’ requests can come from that address.
This may help reduce the amount of captchas and bans you encounter, since some of PIA’s customers are malicious actors that attack websites and services (but PIA can’t tell which customers do these things)
masks your IP & adds a layer of privacy to your web browsing
So to be safe I should use a VPN and a PIA? Explain the two in tandem like I am a 5 year old as well
Your IP is X. With a VPN it now is Y. That may help you be and feel more secure.
You can still get hacked. You can still fall for phishing attempts. It may not work with large corporations who know your VPNs used IP addresses. You may though be able to trick many people to think you’re in India to watch a georestricted show.
If you walk through an underground tunnel to another house a few streets away and then walk outside they don’t see you! That’s how a VPN works
i would say a Overground tunnel.
they know you could move somewhere but dont know when , who , or why , or with what and also where the tunnel gets invisible half way.
because your ISP sees the tunnel but not the end goal.
Ah thank you so much! I understand better now.