Confusion .....VPN?

[Lambykins]

There are some things I don't understand.
I get online and go to very few sites.
Here, Amazon, a few recipe sites, yahoo, youtube, a few news sites, that sorta thing.
One of my kids has told me I should get a VPN thing for security.
I dunno. I really don't know what they do.
My son also brought up "Hey if you go on to the *dark web* ever you'll need one."
I don't even know how to get on the *dark web*. I have no reason to go there. I do suspect that it isn't the amazing place all the kids say it is.
Anyway, the one time somebody tried to explain to me how to get there, I got bored listening to their explanation.
So, other than a decent anti-virus (which I have) do I need any of that other crap?

[Anianna]

There are some things I don't understand.
I get online and go to very few sites.
Here, Amazon, a few recipe sites, yahoo, youtube, a few news sites, that sorta thing.
One of my kids has told me I should get a VPN thing for security.
I dunno. I really don't know what they do.
My son also brought up "Hey if you go on to the *dark web* ever you'll need one."
I don't even know how to get on the *dark web*. I have no reason to go there. I do suspect that it isn't the amazing place all the kids say it is.
Anyway, the one time somebody tried to explain to me how to get there, I got bored listening to their explanation.
So, other than a decent anti-virus (which I have) do I need any of that other crap?

I think this PCMag article is a good one explaining what a VPN can and can't do:  https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/why-you-need-a-vpn-and-how-to-choose-the-right-one

The "dark web" is just websites that require special software to access them so they can remain anonymous.  The average person has no need to access sites that go to those lengths to ensure their anonimity.  So, uh, what's your kid doin' on the dark web?

[Moab]

I write this once and lost it!

Great advice, Aniana!

The only real reason to be on the dark web is if you need really expensive prescription drugs from overseas. And that's a grey area. Doctors will more often than not help with that by providing written prescriptions. And if you have a valid prescription it's not illegal. 

But everything else in the dark web is. Lol. And in my experience isn't that easy to do. So your not missing anything.

You can use a VPN to sometimes bypass regional pay walls. Like spoofing Netflix I to showing you all the shows available in another country. But that's hit or miss too. Doesn't always work.

There are other security things it adds. And protects you from. But from what little surfing you do. You could find a free one if you were worried.

The real tech guys can chime in here tho. There may be more uses for your limited situation.

I mainly use mine (Nord) for torrenting stuff. Films, TV or books I can't find elsewhere. Or that you can find compiled into say a single season download with the correct subtitles? Or even the correct subtitles alone. I downloaded a series recently. Even tho I pay for that channel. Because the paid versions was not as watchable as the torrented one. I forget the issue. But it made it way more watchable that way. And I had technically paid for it. Not that I give a shit. Lol. 

I think way more important to run a firewall and good antivirus. I use Zonealarm free firewall and AVG free for anti virus. 

And ya. What is your kid doing on the dark web? It's easy to get caught up in the mischief available on the dark web. I would at least open a nonjudgmental open dialogue about it. So your at least in the loop and can advise him. 

He sounds older. My 25 yr old doesn't listen to sh*t I say. Lol! But he's graduated college and just working and not usually into shenanigans. But the best I hope for is he continues to involve me any grey area decisions. So I can at least share my experience with him.

But ya. Dads definitely not cool anymore. Lol!

[Lambykins]

There are some things I don't understand.
I get online and go to very few sites.
Here, Amazon, a few recipe sites, yahoo, youtube, a few news sites, that sorta thing.
One of my kids has told me I should get a VPN thing for security.
I dunno. I really don't know what they do.
My son also brought up "Hey if you go on to the *dark web* ever you'll need one."
I don't even know how to get on the *dark web*. I have no reason to go there. I do suspect that it isn't the amazing place all the kids say it is.
Anyway, the one time somebody tried to explain to me how to get there, I got bored listening to their explanation.
So, other than a decent anti-virus (which I have) do I need any of that other crap?

I think this PCMag article is a good one explaining what a VPN can and can't do:  https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/why-you-need-a-vpn-and-how-to-choose-the-right-one

The "dark web" is just websites that require special software to access them so they can remain anonymous.  The average person has no need to access sites that go to those lengths to ensure their anonimity.  So, uh, what's your kid doin' on the dark web?

Thanks for that article, good read!
So, basically, what I got is:
No, I don't need a VPN, considering my limited internet use, I'm not a journalist/activist living in an authoritarian regime (like DisneyWorld) that'll prosecute me for saying "Mickey Mouse is evil" , I don't pirate streaming services, my prescriptions are not hard to get and I have no need to get on the *dark web*.
As for why my son threw that in as a reason I might need one...back in the Dark Ages, I belonged to a group that did some mischievous things online. We had fun, learned a lot of things and most of us outgrew it or died due to old age.
I think my son remembers some of the shenanigans we got into. The group is still out there, still active and still very well respected. I was just on the fringes and useful mainly because I was on the East Coast and had access to computer equipment and I had weird ideas. 
My son assures me that he does NOT play on the *dark web* and the only time he has been there has been on a friends old laptop that was used just to look around there and after getting full of viruses, they tossed it.

[NT2C]

Some of the tech I own is from countries or companies that have become restricted in the US. This makes updating the firmware/software impossible from the US, so I do it with a VPN and spoof the unreachable site into believing I'm in Taiwan, or Denmark, etc.

Edit: To elaborate, I own two smart watches from a company that roused the ire of the US Government, so the .gov folks block me from downloading or installing the apps that are needed to make use of the watches, or to update the software/firmware on the watches or the software on my phone.  What little functionality remains active with those restrictions is further crippled because the USG considers it a "medical device" (measures all of the health parameters Apple watches do, just lacks medical certification in the USA (has it in a dozen other countries like Canada and Germany) so, the easiest way for me to install the software, update it, and update the firmware, is to "pretend" I'm doing it from Taiwan, thereby bypassing blocks put in place to those sites.  Since the watches were $400+ each and I rely on them to give me advance warning when my body is about to go haywire, I consider the risk of prosecution, if it ever came to that, to be worth it.  And if that ever came to pass I'd fight the charges under the takings clause of the 5th amendment as a regulatory taking with no compensation.

A similar situation exists with my AV software, which is based in Russia.  Sanctions against Russia are such that when it became impossible to update the virus databases the company sent all registered users a different AV software package that is USA-based and has the same subscription length.  Still, the Russian AV was still installed on all my computers and a PITA to remove, so I left it.  Then it started having hissy fits every few days because its databases were out of date.  So, every other day I VPN to Denmark and run the update cycle on that AV, then close the VPN.  As you see, there's not much I'm using it for, but VPNs do have handy uses.

[MacWa77ace]

In a nutshell it hides your location. IP addresses can reveal and be tracked back to you specifically and every website or online interaction logs your IP address on that sites connections. Even if you don't have a login account.

Without any NSA or FBI or other 3 letter agency backing, but being a UFoZS mod, I can see your general location based on the IP address this website gives for you @Lambykins . https://ipinfo.io/216.177.23.131 . If I had that 3 letter backing I could get your exact location minute by minute. 

So you hear the word spoofing, but basically think of a using a VPN is like using a secret 'tunnel' from your location that comes out someplace that is not your location but is a public tunnel exit.  Which could be another country, or another state, or another continental region. And makes you look like your IP address is at the 'public tunnel exit' and so everything thinks your internet connection is at the tunnel exit's IP address, instead of where you really are. There's a drawback to that, if you use a VPN that trollers and scammers use a lot with the same 'exit' IP address, you can be banned or shadow banned from forums and other websites requiring login accounts based on automated SPAM BLOCKING software.

So if you went to Jeffery Epstein's website without a VPN, then your actual IP address could be logged there. And if Epstein ever got investigated for some unknown reason, then anyone trying to get a list of contacts would have your IP, and location, not necessarily your name or actual person.  That would take a deeper investigation. Knock, Knock.

Or if you used a web spider to stream bootleg movies, and the server site gets raided, you [your IP location] would probably be in their logs. So Knock, Knock?

A lot of VPN's will let you choose your 'tunnel exit' in a different country or region also. Like in NT2C's case, if he's using a US restricted app, but its ok in Japan, he just VPN's to a Japan 'tunnel exit' to connect to the internet for it to work.

[Lambykins]

Good explanations from all, thank you!
I will not be getting a VPN. No need.