A.

The acronym ‘VPN’ stands for Virtual Private Network and is essentially a private, encrypted tunnel for your network traffic.  As such, the VPN provider you choose must be trustworthy.  A VPN protects your traffic from being snooped on by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and any other device or actor that may be watching traffic on your network or from the internet.  A VPN also makes it appear as though your device is coming from the VPN’s IP address rather than your own, which will make it more difficult for websites and other online services from tracking you via IP geolocation data. With that said, a VPN is only one piece of a privacy strategy.  A VPN can protect your network traffic from prying digital eyes, but it can’t stop you or your device from sending data or information that may identify you.  This is why we recommend that you choose and secure your devices, operating systems, web browsers, and software well, and to follow the lessons laid out in the Privacy Action Plan, to which we are adding and updating content all the time.