VPN vs Proxy – What is the difference?
We have the potential to be either completely anonymous, or have our every move monitored online. The average person vastly underestimates how easy it is for third parties to do this— to find out the details of who they are, where they are, and what they have been doing on the web.
In a world of ever-decreasing privacy, you have the right to be concerned about such matters.
Luckily for all of us, we do not need to be completely exposed, and there are a variety of methods available for maintaining privacy online. These services act as a privacy screen to be placed in between you and the internet.
There are two primary methods of achieving this goal: Proxy and VPN services.
Ultimately, they achieve similar ends, but we can think of top VPN providers as being the “high brow” method and proxy methods as the “low brow” method.
A proxy is a virtual filter that the user’s information passes through before going online. The server acting as a filter is now what people see instead of the actual user, should they try to look.
This is good for basic protection of your IP address and location, against those who are not trying very hard to look. They are generally free as well, so you get the bare minimum, which you happen to not be paying for. Proxy services are a false sense of security however, as the government and skilled hackers can easily break through them.
Adept code can determine your IP address, and worse yet, your information is not encrypted. Without encryption services, the government can still see your activity quite easily. The protection offered by proxy services is minimal, at best.
For anyone who is serious enough about their privacy to pay a small monthly fee (about $10/month on average), VPN services offer the superior alternative.
An anonymous VPN IP service does not act as a wall that blocks the user. Instead, it is a cloak that hides them completely. This is achieved with high levels of encryption that quality VPN services offer, which make it impossible for anyone (government or ISP’s) to monitor your activity.
The only potential for a data leak in this situation is if the VPN provider keeps activity logs, but if you are sure to use a top end trusted provider you can easily avoid this, as they will not.
For true security, VPN services are the only serious option. With an encrypted VPN IP, the data simply does not exist.
For the best VPN service with dedicated IP functions, RapidVPN offers maximal security for very low rates, anywhere in the world. Installation is simple and free with support for a variety of browsers.
Regardless of your internet usage and privacy needs, your online identity is something to be taken seriously. Too many people do not consider protection until they have already suffered a breach of security. With the reasonable fees and ease of use that come with a solid VPN IP provider, there is no reason to have yourself exposed.
