by Victoria Foot
You can access Aussie content even when you leave the country on vacation…
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a useful and versatile tool that all internet users should consider using in Australia. With a VPN you can gain added privacy and freedom online. This allows you to enjoy unfiltered, uncensored internet.
VPNs have servers around the globe that let you bypass geo-restrictions, and the very best services have Australian VPN servers so that you can access Aussie content even when you leave the country on vacation.
A VPN also encrypts your internet traffic to ensure your ISP cannot invade your privacy by tracking your web history on behalf of the government.
In this article, we will take a closer look at all the reasons why you should use a VPN in Australia.
Improve your digital privacy
In Australia, the government has passed laws that force ISPs to retain records of all internet users’ web browsing habits for a 12-month period. That data can be accessed by a large cross section of government authorities to perform surveillance for reasons of “national security”.
Mandatory data retention directives like the ones implemented in Australia are a massive invasion of citizens’ privacy and it is recommended that all citizens encrypt their web traffic to stop ISPs from being able to collect that data on behalf of the government
The thing to remember, is that your web browsing habits can be used to make startlingly accurate secondary inferences about you, and data privacy experts agree that this information can be used to discriminate against consumers, to infringe on their fundamental human rights to privacy, and to potentially negatively affect their future opportunities.
Bypass censorship
In Australia, the government forces ISPs to block any domains that are believed to infringe on copyrights. This results in BitTorrent repositories like the Pirate Bay being blocked.
It also means that many streaming sites are unavailable. If you feel strongly about censorship and want to be able to access online content without necessary filtering, you can use a VPN to bypass those restrictions.
Access geo-restricted content
When you use the internet, it is likely that you will sometimes encounter services and website content that has been geo-restricted. These regional blocks are designed to make content available only in certain places, normally due to licensing restrictions.
TV channels, social media services, particular apps, websites, and services are all sometimes subject to geo-restrictions.
With a VPN, you can easily conceal your real IP address from the websites and services you visit. This allows you to conceal your real location and pretend to be in a different country. As a result, you can access content that is usually controlled behind the regional firewall.
The good thing about using a VPN in this way is that you access not only content from foreign countries, such as the UK’s BBC iPlayer, but also Australian services from overseas.
So, if you go on holiday and you can’t access your internet banking (because it is geo-restricted to Australia), you can use a VPN to access your online banking while you are away.
Improve your Netflix catalog
If you are a Netflix subscriber living in Australia, your Netflix catalog is actually 65% smaller than the one experienced by Netflix subscribers in the US. The good news is that you can easily connect to a server in the US to unblock that larger catalog of titles.
Using a VPN to connect to Netflix US will not incur any additional costs, and it is extremely easy. However, please bear in mind that only a handful of world-class VPNs actually work with Netflix. So follow the link at the top of this article to find a service that works.
Prevent surveillance capitalism
When you visit a website or use an online service, that website can easily detect your IP address.
This allows the site administrator to track you every time you return to the website. It also allows the website to analyze exactly which pages you visit, the products that interest you, and to perform what is often referred to by privacy experts as surveillance capitalism.
By using a VPN to conceal your IP address, you remove this layer of tracking.
Gain privacy and freedom of access at work or in school
When you use the internet in school or at work, it is possible that the local network administrator will block specific websites. This is usually done to ensure that employees or students do not become distracted.
This may cause games like Minecraft to be blocked, or social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, or even YouTube to be purposefully censored.
With a VPN, you can easily bypass these network restrictions to access any content you are interested in. Furthermore, because the VPN also implements encryption, you will be able to access that content without the local network administrator finding out.
This is also true when using public WiFi hotspots, allowing you to use the internet without the hotel, coffee shop, or wherever you happen to be connected from tracking your web visits.
Victoria Foot is a Cyber-Security expert from Australia.
