I strongly suggest every computer user should use a VPN all the time on their computer(s) and cell phone(s). In fact, I am using a VPN right now as I write this article and I leave the VPN connected all the time. I also have a VPN installed on my cell phone that runs continuously. There are a number of excellent VPNs to choose from, except those that come from Russia.
NOTE: A virtual private network (VPN) enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks in a secure manner. In short, it locks out hackers, online thieves, credit card thieves, government agents, and other people who want to tap into your online conversations and activities in order to steal your private information.
You can learn more about VPNs in Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network as well as in dozens of other articles that can be found by starting at your favorite search engine and searching for “What is a vpn?.”
The reason I do not recommend Russian VPNs is because Russia’s telecommunications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, announced VPN bans in June 2021 and then again in December 2021. “The reason for banning VPNs in the country was because Russian VPN producers refused to connect their services to the FGIS database, which would apply government-imposed censorship in VPN connections, and would also make user traffic and identity subject to state scrutiny,” according to BleepingComputer.
In other words, Russia wants to limit VPN use in Russia and elsewhere to VPNs that provide the Russian government “back door” access that makes everything being sent and received visible to Russian government agents. In my mind, that defeats the entire purpose of using a VPN.
My suggestion: go to a search engine or online review of VPNs to find a suitable service for your use. With one exception, I would strongly recommend avoiding free VPNs as almost all free VPNs track your usage and then sell your personal information to anyone who will pay for it. (After all, how can anyone provide a FREE VPN service? They have to make money to pay the bills somehow!)
The one exception is Proton VPN. Proton sells both free and paid-for VPN services with the free service paid for by people who try the free version, like it, and then upgrade to the paid Proton VPN service. (The paid Proton VPN has several additional services not available in the free version.)
The paid version of Proton VPN is available for Macintosh, Windows, Android, Apple iPhones and iPads, and Linux.
Proton is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, allowing Proton’s users to benefit from some of the world’s strongest privacy laws.
Proton may be found at: https://protonvpn.com
NOTE: I am not being compensated by anyone for writing this article. While I use the paid version of Proton’s VPN, neither Proton nor any other company will pay me any money or provide any other benefit for using that particular service. Yes, I pay Proton for using that company’s services, just like all of Proton’s other customers. I also know that a number of other VPN providers also offer high-quality VPN services.