What Information About Your Device Do VPN Services Collect?
One of the main tasks of a VPN service is the reliable protection of a network user's confidential data. Many specialists advise looking for providers that will not collect excessive information about the user, which could then be used in their own interests. But it is impossible to remove this component completely, so a potential client needs to know what a VPN requires in order to provide the full range of services without collecting unnecessary information in its logs.
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Why Does a VPN Collect Information?
There is a belief that providers collect information only in order to sell it at a profit to third parties. But this is not entirely true, and proof of that is the fact that many VPNs do not keep logs. And their privacy policy directly prohibits sharing the data provided by the user with any third-party organizations and individuals. But when choosing a provider, you must be sure to look at the «Privacy Policy» section, which should explicitly state that the company providing the VPN service undertakes not to distribute your data.
But in order to fix operational issues efficiently and promptly, as well as to carry out prompt analytics, VPN services still collect certain data about the device on which the app or software is installed.
Diagnostics
It is not uncommon for a user to experience problems with software installed from a VPN provider. This happens for many reasons; often these are flaws in the app itself, and the user's own actions can also lead to such a situation. In addition, many resources fight against VPNs, which results in problems accessing them.
In these cases, the user often turns to the support service of the company providing the VPN. But it can solve the problem much faster if it has data about the device on which the problem occurred. Otherwise, the user will still have to spend time gathering this data. Most often this is the device model and the operating system on which the VPN is installed.
Systematic collection of device data from a large number of users allows the provider to carry out generalized diagnostics, improving the service for a specific mass platform. At the same time, it becomes possible to fix issues for a specific user as quickly as possible.
Analytics
When collecting information about users, responsible providers never share it with third parties. But this does not mean they cannot use this data for their own purposes. One of the main reasons such collection is carried out is to analyze user preferences. For example, the provider understands that the majority of its users use the Android operating system. This means that it is precisely Android that should be focused on when optimizing offers and developing updated functionality.
Data analysis allows updates to be rolled out most rationally. For instance, the provider developed and added a certain feature designed to work with the Windows operating system. By analyzing the collected information, it can determine how popular the new feature has become among users with this operating system. If it caught on, software can be developed for other operating systems and platforms.
Properly conducted analytics makes it possible to clearly define the audience and choose a precise strategy for running marketing campaigns. Obviously, this is primarily aimed at increasing business profitability. But every successful company significantly expands its customer base, and this, in turn, improves the service by extending the functionality offered by the provider, so the client also comes out ahead.
Can You Limit Data Sharing
Many apps allow you to disable the collection of personal data in their settings. But often this is far from the case, and certain data still ends up at the disposal of the companies providing the VPN service. The only way to prevent data leakage is to load the VPN service from a new device every time. But in practice this method is not workable, since it would require a single user to have a huge number of gadgets. Another, more practical option is to use special programs that emulate different operating systems; in this case the VPN provider will not get reliable data.
Experienced users suggest several techniques you can use to increase your level of privacy and limit the amount of information collected by the VPN provider:
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In browsers, for example Firefox, you need to configure the privacy settings correctly.
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Install and use the Tor browser, but in this case you will have to disconnect from the VPN.
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The Trace or Chameleon extensions protect against the provider remembering the smartphone owner's fingerprints.
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Disable Flash functionality in the browser.
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Disable JavaScript, but keep in mind that the functionality of many resources will be limited.
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Try the virtual machine option – VirtualBox, VMware Workstation Player.
With all that said, you need to understand that the collection of data about a user's device is not the biggest privacy problem to be afraid of. Most major VPN providers do this not for fraudulent purposes, but in order to carry out high-quality diagnostics and analytics, offering clients ever more refined software products. Therefore, the main condition for keeping your personal data safe is using the paid version of a reliable VPN provider that adheres to its own privacy policy.