I appreciate the people who gave valid input and who were trying to actually help me. Didn't appreciate the jerks that called me crazy for wanting to use a VPN service.
I think a lot of you need to brush up what a VPN actually is and who uses a VPN:
http://lifehacker.com/5940565/why-y...and-how-to-choose-the-best-one-for-your-needs
I also think a lot of you need to understand the security benefits of having a VPN. Can people still get their hands on my data? Maybe, but it's pretty unlikely if using a valid VPN service like NordVPN, ExpressVPN or IP Vanish. 2048-bit SSL encryption (which Nord provides) is damn near impossible to crack. Really sit back and think about it- if the FBI was struggling trying to crack a 5 digit iPhone pin, how would they be able to crack 2048-bit encryption? Also, a lot of the top paid services offer certain guarantees. It all comes down to privacy and value my privacy end of story.
FBI has cracked many VPN's and Tor, to the point they let child sex traffickers go in order to keep their tools secure. A lot of these services use less than ideal encryption keys so when subpoena'd they can provide it. That is definitely something you want to watch out for with whatever provider you choose.
Your data is only encrypted between your PC and their servers, also something else to keep in mind. Beyond that, unless using other forms of transmission encryption standards, your data is wide open as if it were coming from your home with no VPN.
Not saying that a VPN is useless, I quite think the opposite, especially with higher levels of encryption. There will be some performance deficits the higher the levels of encryption go, but thanks to hardware acceleration in Intel, AMD, and other types of network hardware processing, that is becoming less harsh on hardware. But it has its effects...especially on systems where you're running the VPN client.
I prefer OpenVPN and DNSSEC VPN standards for secure tunnel deployment and management. I've deployed dozens of both for companies, end-users, for site-to-site, road-warrior, etc.
One thing to be careful about is ASSuming that the FBI doesn't have access to the encryption keys for those VPN tunnels. Many services use the same encryption key for all their clients...it's like a "get outta jail free" card if they are requested to turn it over. The other issue that may or may not concern you is logging, many VPN services may claim not to log, but most do. Again, this is CYA so they can offload lawsuits to the end-users rather than have to deal with getting shut down and going broke. Why should they pay for your illegal activities? They won't.
Depending on your activities, this may or may not matter.
Using VPN services for streaming and gaming, good luck with that...to lower levels of encryption and still have increased latency doesn't seem worth it. I guess if you're region locked and feel you really NEED to ID as someone from a different region, then that's your only choice for sure.
If you want to be truly private, you need to unplug from the Internet. Otherwise smartly using VPN and Tor are mitigation methods to increasing privacy to a certain extent, but not sure-fire bulletproof solutions by any means. The second you assume you're all good will be the second they nail your ass to the wall. Make sure you're regularly changing servers, make sure you're not doing heinously illegal content viewing, sharing, distributing, or any content theft that could push the DMCA and feds down the throats of your VPN service provider, and odds are you'll be safer than not.
It is worth educating on how VPN works, why it works and where it does and doesn't work. VPN service providers are FOTM's anymore...and more of them are dangerously transparent when it comes to investigations. Some are super dangerous when their encryption keys get "accidentally" released or hacked out of their databases.
That being said, I've used PIA for several years now with good results...though I don't use it daily nor rely on it all the time. Frankly if you're worried about privacy, there's so much more than VPN. Every membership, regular bill, registration, service, whether online or not, has been tracking you for decades... we lost the privacy battle. So what you're really keeping private versus what you think you're keeping private can be vastly different, and many don't even realize it. That's another discussion for a different day.
Really it comes down to choosing what you are and aren't willing to do on a PC, and while VPN and Tor can help to an extent with encryption, they aren't the end-all answer that many bill them to be. I am a proponent for VPN's, as I said I use them regularly on a professional and personal-level, design them, deploy, maintain, test and secure, etc. They have their uses. Don't think for a second any VPN service provider won't cover their ass to save yours, they'll totally sacrifice you when called on to do so. Accept that, and play by that one rule with these services.
