Did anybody ever actually have a VPN on their phone before the government started asking ID for sites?

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BetterCall_Melissa@reddit

I had one before all that, mostly just for privacy and streaming, I use NordVPN and it’s been fine, I run it with my work stuff like zenzap, Notion, Gmail, no issues at all, plus it’s useful for Netflix too

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Northerlies@reddit

Yes, VPN was bundled in with my annual security renewal.

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Magnetrans@reddit

I had one for a few years, mostly used it when connected to public WiFi or when I wanted to watch German shows on Netflix etc

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intergalacticscooter@reddit

Ah those German shows. Cough cough

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TelephoneOrnery1394@reddit

Hallo, your waszhing machine is kaput, ya!?

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DoublePepper1976@reddit

And on certain corners, those Germans really do show

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Skate_beard@reddit

Been using one for years, essential equipment when sailing the seven seas 🏴‍☠️

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Brian-Kellett@reddit

Yep. Tailscale so that I can ‘dial home’ to my home network without exposing stuff to the internet as much. And make remote desktopping easier. (More complicated than that, but that’s the basics). And yes, I’m an old man.

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A_Chicken_Called_Kip@reddit

Tailscale is incredible for home network access. It just works so well, and it’s free too!

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fussyfella@reddit

I cannot really see the need for tailscale (a third party dependent VPN) when it is so easy to spin up your own VPN server. The only use case that it makes easier is when you are stuck behind a CGNAT configuration without the possibility of opening inbound ports, when you would need a VPS as well - but since you can get a VPS for around £1 a month, it seems a small price to pay not to be dependent on someone else's VPN.

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aje0200@reddit

My upload speed at home is still only 6 mbit/s so tailscale is good for accessing my home network without sending all my traffic through it like I used to do with wireguard.

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fussyfella@reddit

That is just a matter of getting your routing tables right

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Brian-Kellett@reddit

I *could* but I’m a hobbyist and opening a port direct to wherever I’m running my VPN is doable - but I’m not security certified, I don’t keep up with the latest vulnerabilities, etc, etc. So having someone more knowledgeable about it than me, and who is paid to keep up with the latest issues is worth offloading the cognitive load. And it makes backing up my NAS offsite to my brother’s house so much easier. 😉

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deadlygaming11@reddit

The main thing is that if you spin up your own server, you need to open a port which exposes your network to the internet and you have to configure everything to make it secure. With tailscale, I just enable it and connect without much fuss.

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jmabbz@reddit

Same. Tailscale is how I sync all my photos to my home server and also how I access my work network from home.

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Brian-Kellett@reddit

Running the exit node is how I get around work blocking… Reddit. Which is where I am right now 😂

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jmabbz@reddit

That is a handy feature.

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Logical_Strain_6165@reddit

It's awesome. Add in a cheap VPS to avoid geoblocks as an exit node and does every thing I need.

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No_Pea-1@reddit

No. I never did and I still don't.

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Ayanhart@reddit

Same. I don't bother and no one I know irl does. Reddit is a big bubble when it comes to this kind of thing.

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Mean-Dinner-8780@reddit

I bet at least someone you know does. It's baked in to Opera for example, so you don't need to know anything technical, you just turn on both private mode and VPN if you want to look at adult sites. They just (reasonably enough) are not talking to you about their porn habbits.

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Ayanhart@reddit

We literally talk about what smutty books people are reading lmao.

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threetimesalion@reddit

There’s a pretty significant male / female divide between watching porn (mostly men) and reading porn (mostly women). I have no data on this but suspect the vast majority of VPN users are also male, for this reason. I’m guessing you aren’t having those discussions with men?

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DoJ-Mole@reddit

I guess none of you watch online porn then in which case that makes sense, or do you actually watch and feel fine with handing over your anonymity?

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VFrosty3@reddit

I have had a VPN on all my devices for years. Mostly due to streaming or accessing sites that are blocked by ISPs. I know a lot of male and female colleagues (work in IT) that are the same.

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skdowksnzal@reddit

I work in IT, I’ve had a VPN for over 10yrs at this point. Never connect to a free or public wifi without one. I use it mainly for security but it does come in handy when you need to spoof your location for whatever reason (eg. Streaming)

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OldManChino@reddit

Recommended VPN provider?

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vertigo90@reddit

Mullvad my beloved

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krysus@reddit

Same. Just topped up for 6 months with a £27 Mullvad gift card from Amazon.

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appletinicyclone@reddit

Respectfully the less people know about this the longer it lasts lol

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skdowksnzal@reddit

I use ProtonVPN

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floor9represent@reddit

I’ve used a few.. currently with proton for the last three years as they have some of the strongest privacy. Nord is free if you have a revolut plan so that should be considered.

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eggmayonnaise@reddit

https://vpntierlists.com/ Proton is recommended on this list. I believe their no logs audit has turned out better than Nord but I could be wrong there.

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OldManChino@reddit

thanks

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nohairday@reddit

I'm quite happy with NordVPN, myself. Seems good for reliability and speed of connection. Been using them for about 5 years at this point.

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Known-Bumblebee2498@reddit

I was going to suggest Surfshark but I see they merged with NordVPN about 4 years ago! You can often find sign up deals with both.

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Ivan_Dobsky_MD@reddit

Same here. Changing the region to US is the only way that Netflix is worth the money because the US catalogue is so much larger.

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AnonymousTimewaster@reddit

Every VPN I've ever used gets recognised when watching things like Netflix, how do you stop that from happening?

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davehemm@reddit

Just been trialling tailscale, using one of my NAS as the exit node for my tailnet, currently spoofing my sister-in-law as being at our IP address for sharing Disney+ - haven't had to reauthorise her login for several weeks now.

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Success_With_Lettuce@reddit

I very rarely have that with NordVPN, if on the few occasions it is stubborn, refreshing the VPN server always fixes it.

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Matharis@reddit

Just refresh the connection on the VPN. Most providers have multiple servers in 1 location so it should connect to a different IP that will hopefully not be blacklisted. You can also change states/regions if the country your spoofing is large enough. Another option is use a smaller service that is less likely to have a huge number of users, so its less likely to be scraped and added to the blocklist. Clearing cookies and cache of browsers can sometimes help to reduce the chance of being blocked. You should also be activating and selecting your vpn connection before logging into the site too. The days of quickly and easily bouncing around the globe checking the sites content catalogues are pretty much over as they are much better at detecting changes and recognising VPN use. Its just another part of the cat and mouse aspect of tech where both sides are continually improving on blocking/evading.

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flashdashrick@reddit

I've had VPN for about 5 years now. I use NordVPN and the subscription is worth it. I can use it for work never had issues with gmail, zenzap, zoom etc. And I heavily use it on my phone whenever I'm out or watching shows/streaming.

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fisothemes@reddit

Always had one. You get to see more search results and when you're on holiday you get to see results in your native tongue or country. I have used it mostly to bypass censorship (sadly becoming more common, since many people have stopped respecting personal freedom and have become zealots, dogmatic and intolerant). It's also useful for finding out if it's your IP that's funky or the website.

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khanempire@reddit

Yeah I already had one for public WiFi and streaming long before all these ID checks started

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Fish_Goes_Moo@reddit

I've had one since the snoopers charter came in. It's ridiculous to force isps to log connection records for a year, but give the mps an opt out. They are the most dodgy people in the country. Targeted on suspects, fine, mass logging of everyone is just more mass surveillance. I'm well aware if I was really up to no good a vpn alone won't hide me, but it will at least shield from that nonsense. Proton is audited every year, so I'm quite confident they are true to their word. Outside of that, it's now handy for the OSA and for watching Stargate on Pluto tv.

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Highlord_Salem@reddit

Yea ive allways had one. Especially when connecting out and about. You never know who's hijacked or snooping on thoes unsecured public wifi network's or the works wifi.

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GlitchyRaven_@reddit

That was my main reason as well. Public WiFi always feels a bit dodgy so a VPN just makes me feel a bit safer using it.

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Aromatic-Report8866@reddit

\*tor browser has entered the chat\*

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Flat___________@reddit

I did/do and used it when on public wifi

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Busy-Doughnut6180@reddit

No. I (F) got one for 3 reasons. One is I like to use twitter for language learning immersion, where I set everything to that language and country so even the trending topics are from that country. Without a VPN, twitter now forces my country back to the UK, and I get less tweets in my algorithm from the intended country. It's annoying. The second reason is I like illustration, comics, other nerdy things, and fanart. Some of that content is 18+. Twitter needs ID for that now. No thank you. The third is because I can't look at certain health subreddits without age verification now. Which is insane to me. So much of that information should not be age restricted. I have had a vpn on my PC since before all of this because sometimes I just want to be able to access content in the language I'm learning, but you can't unless you're a citizen of that country. And also, the seas are rough these days.

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danrobson1@reddit

Yeah, Opera has it built in.

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OsotoViking@reddit

Not me. I got it specifically to see women's pink bits.

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Evening-Web-3038@reddit

I only started using one after the OSA came into effect. Not because I'm doing anything illegal, but rather because of how grating the whole thing is these days: 1. Can't view porn without doing a selfie/giving up your data. And on this one but I do actually occasionally view it on mobile with no VPN and it asks me everytime. It never remembers me between visits, so it's an absolute ballache every single time. 2. Can't view a lot of people's Reddit profile. There's one user on here I semi regularly check in on because they constantly post pictures of regional food that I enjoy. But because one time they said something triggering (think it was a really old self harm comment from like 10 years ago) I can't view their profile anymore without a VPN. 3. I watch a streamer who occasionally does a modest giveaway, and it involves playing a slot game on a non-UK casino and top score wins. Completely free to enter/play and you don't even need to sign up to the casino, but you also cannot play it from the UK. VPN ftw. All of the above are solved with just 2 clicks.

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Baggins_1420@reddit

Yes. Proton and now the one baked into iOS. Although I’m not sure that is actually a VPN.

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dickanova@reddit

Isn’t this just a short cut to the vpn already installed on your phone? I wasn’t aware that iOS came with its own one. Might well be wrong!

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Flaruwu@reddit

Google has their own VPN built into pixels too, never used it because I've used my own for years but it's there.

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TheDroolingFool@reddit

Private relay (the iOS one) isn’t bad… I ended up switching it off as the number of ‘are you human’ style prompts especially Google drove me absolutely insane but I suppose it might be the same for all VPN providers.

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onionsareawful@reddit

It's definitely a private relay problem, I rarely have that issue with my actual VPN.

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pip_goes_pop@reddit

iOS comes with "iCloud Private Relay" (assuming you have an iCloud+ sub). It's like a VPN in the way it hops your connection through proxies to avoid tracking, but doesn't have the encryption levels a proper VPN does. That'll be that Baggins\_1420 is referring to.

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Baggins_1420@reddit

Thank you!

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Racing_Fox@reddit

Nope But I sure as hell so now.

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jethrothegamer@reddit

A VPN is a good extra layer of security, regardless of online, government ID requests.

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khazroar@reddit

Yes, because my mobile network already had age blocking and only accepted forms of ID that I don't have. I couldn't even use Urban Dictionary or the Internet Archive without giving them a passport, despite the fact that my phone number itself is probably over 18 years old now.

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turtleship_2006@reddit

I think I vaguely remember a law/rule where mobile providers had to restrict adult content by default and give the option to unrestrict it, but I don't think actually verifying the age was a requirement.

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khazroar@reddit

Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard anyone else complain about the same issue, so I don't think all providers are as strict, but also I'm in an unusual position of almost exclusively using mobile data, and also not having a passport or driver's license. But this is what I see if I try to go to something as inoccuous as archive.org. https://preview.redd.it/ylkq2u7jf1og1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e54c84c6cc9ee35147210202728b63c41d5630d5

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turtleship_2006@reddit

Hmm, according to [this](https://www.giffgaff.com/blog/internet-safety-parental-controls/) they're required to have the option, but not to have it on by default? >The good news is that mobile operators are required by law to have content restrictions on their networks, making it easy for you to control (and tough for your children to access) unsuitable material. Each of the major UK networks has now signed up to the [Independent Mobile Classification](http://www.imcb.org.uk/) Body’s code of conduct, which means mobile operators restrict content classified as suitable for over-18s only. They also explain that you can disable it in settings on pay monthly plans at any time, but you need to verify yourself to disable it on PAYG plans as "anyone can buy them" but you need a credit card for the monthly one

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Sparko_Marco@reddit

I didn't and still don't. I just don't bother with any sites that ask for ID.

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TujiTV@reddit

Absolutely, I've had a subscription to my current VPN for nearly 14 years now. I started using it in South Korea to get around certain geoblocking rules, although back then I had to pay for it with gift cards because my Korean bank would block the payment, became incredibly useful when I had to travel in China for work (at lot of my family were using Google Chat at the time, and even Beijing airport wifi would block that). Came back to the UK and saw the way the government were heading with reducing online privacy and kept my subscription ever since.

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ilikeavocadotoast@reddit

Probably been using VPNs for just over a decade now - firstly mainly for public wifi as older smartphones were more vulnerable back then, secondly because my housemate in uni thought it was a good idea to torrent The Simpsons while we had Sky Broadband of all providers

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Reasonable_Bat_3583@reddit

Yes I’ve had one for a while

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Ragnarsdad1@reddit

i did for streaming and for checking prices on virgin media website as if you were already with Virgin they blocked your ability to see what the current prices were.

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vivalacoulter@reddit

I used to for when I used hotel/public WiFi

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skawarrior@reddit

Yeah, I've been letting IPSOS use a VPN to rout my traffic so it can spy on me and give me credits towards gift cards every month

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four_ethers2024@reddit

Always, for over five years now!

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ArseholeWithAPhone@reddit

Yes, I got one as soon as the government decided to force service providers to start blocking RT during the initial stages of the Ukraine invasion. Not because I have a yearning to read Russian propaganda, but because I do noy recognise the right of parliament to determine for me what it is acceptable for me to read. I can do that for myself.

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GlitteringCase7577@reddit

I got a VPN a couple of years ago to watch the final few episodes of traitors while away skiing. Haven’t really thought about cancelling it as it is quite cheap and keeps my devices safe.

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BrowsingnDaydreaming@reddit

For several years yes! It helps for privacy and streaming sites (particularly for kdramas and Turkish dramas lol) \- a woman

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Visual_Seaweed8292@reddit

Its quite interesting, when you VPN to different locations the hub gives you different recommendations. Spain seems to be lots of Anal Milf, and Germany has more bandage and kink stuff.

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celaconacr@reddit

I did but only used it for going on public WiFi or connecting to my home. Now it's on by default except for a few apps.

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DoJ-Mole@reddit

For a long time yeah, when I was younger and living with my parents I didn’t want my dad to be able to see me looking at porn even when I could access it without. Then that carried over to when I lived alone too because I don’t want my ISP seeing it either

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Mysterious_County154@reddit

Yes for watching korean streaming services

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OK_LK@reddit

Woman here I've been using VPN for 10 years or so

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sarahlizzy@reddit

I have two. Used to have three.

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IAmJustTryingToExist@reddit

I started using one in the early 2020s and I wouldn't even use my home network without it.. I've been telling people to use them for years and now I've been spending the last few months telling them I told you so

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arentwealwayssunny@reddit

Yes but for sailing the seas

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RaspberryJammm@reddit

I was going to get one anyway to watch New Zealand Taskmaster but then had to in order to access the subreddits about cannabis. Not looking at boobies, I promise.

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Bacon4Lyf@reddit

I’ve always had one, but I work in engineering and tech so you were weird if you didn’t use one for something

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buy_me_a_pint@reddit

We just have a basic pay as you go phone, no internet

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agground@reddit

I already had one, Albania has no ads on YouTube or other sites, so it’s functionally an adblocker on my iPhone

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veryblocky@reddit

I already had one even before the new law came in

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dOOmBardhi@reddit

Lots of websites/apps don’t work well with VPNs so I find it frustrating. Having to turn off VPN to use things just seems pointless

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ChickenPijja@reddit

Yes, but “only” for about 2 years before it came it. I would try to watch shows on YouTube, that were region locked and doing vpn to Sweden usually cleared nearly every region lock.

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hdhddf@reddit

no, only using a VPN to bypass the stupid OSA and digital ID laws. ofcom needs to get in the bin along with all the lobby groups

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penguin62@reddit

I get a vpn subscription with my password manager so I've had it for years.

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Stinkinhippy@reddit

Still don't have one.. Haven't found it limits my activity all that much.. think I'm boring, lol.

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Long-Iron-1824@reddit

Yes since a lot of useful study websites were blocked on my school’s WiFi. Also I didn’t like the idea of going on public WiFi without it. With there being free* options available to us, there is no reason to hesitate getting one if u live in the UK. *you should still be careful ofc. Get a paid one if you can

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lanky_doodle@reddit

I use one but the other way around - I have my own VPN at home so when not at home it appears I'm accessing from home. Mainly for geolocation streaming service requirements. I tried VPNs the 'usual' way but most of the services I used were blocked because of VPN (public IP) detection. One thing I will say... it won't be long until Government / ICO start asking VPN providers for details of people using them, so I think days are numbered if people are giving their real details to these providers.

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BansheeLabs@reddit

Always used VPNs.

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redbullcat@reddit

Yes, so I could watch F1 without needing to pay tons of money to Sky to get channels I don't want.

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IgnoranceDisclaimer@reddit

I didn’t, I got one as soon as this ID shit happened. I’m a woman.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

Yes, Google offers free use of Google VPN for owners of the Pixel 7 and above, so for about 3-4 years now. I don't use it. I use Operas built-in VPN for accessing torrent sites on my desktop, since my ISP proactively block a few.

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lovesorangesoda636@reddit

Not on my phone but I've had one on my tablet for years. Mainly so my kid could watch iPlayer while on holiday. And on my computers - had one since '08 because I needed it for uni.

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BuncleCar@reddit

Yes for the last 10 years as I use coffee shop WiFi a lot and it was recommended on the log on screen

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audigex@reddit

I’ve always used VPNs, although I got a lifetime subscription cheap about 15 years ago which meant I didn’t feel like I was wasting money if I didn’t use it They’re great for downloading “Linux ISOs, honest guvna” without getting annoying “stop pirating stuff” emails from your ISP, and they do add a bit of privacy when on a public WiFi Also useful for eg checking flight prices or whatever without having them charge you more because you searched for they same flight twice from your home network I also have a VPN connection back to my own network at my house, which is great for accessing my server or IP-KVM to reboot it etc, checking my security cameras, that kinda stuff I do use it a lot more now though

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MrPloppyHead@reddit

So how long has the OSA been in effect? Hasn’t impacted me at all.

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Original-Material301@reddit

Always had one. Be it for work or personal use.

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MrCowabs@reddit

Yep. Has one for a good few years now. It’s been for streaming and watching MLS matches.

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ClacksInTheSky@reddit

Yeah, I have A VPN on my home network that I connect to when I'm outside the house so that I can use my pihole for DNS and get ad blocking on the go.

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peteyourdoom@reddit

Yes. Had various VPNs for years.

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ImTalkingGibberish@reddit

Yes. I don’t trust airports, hotels and much less coffee shops. There use to be a Firefox plugin that lists everyone’s security sessions connected to the same open wifi. You log into someone else’s gmail or facebook with one click.

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chrisrazor@reddit

I got one when the government started blocking torrent sites, whenever that was... mid 2010s?

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deadlygaming11@reddit

No, but I was planning on getting one anyway so once I got one and could get around the restrictions, it was nice

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ducksoupmilliband@reddit

Yep for work and for when I was on "public" WiFi hotspots. What's the male vs female angle? Perhaps assuming women don't look at pornography?

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Acquilas@reddit

Yup. Have used one for many many years now. On pc, laptop, and phone.

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IndividualCurious322@reddit

I dont use one at all because I can access free streaming sites without them.

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TieDyePandas@reddit

nope. never felt the need to get one. still don't tbh.

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missuseme@reddit

I didn't, now I do.

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eufemiapiccio77@reddit

Yeah. I’ve built my own running in other countries

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Pedantichrist@reddit

Yes. I was unable to access some work things when out of the country and I traveled a lot.

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OldBorktonian@reddit

Been using VPNs for years, extra level of security and to access geo locked sites such as Imgur.

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theped26@reddit

Yep, to get around the ads on YouTube

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Putrid_Flamingo_6736@reddit

Morphe for android and uBlocker for desktop

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theped26@reddit

I’m on iPhone

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EuroSong@reddit

Albania, right? 😊

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theped26@reddit

Yep

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fussyfella@reddit

I had VPNs on devices before Smartphones were even a thing. We used them for business purposes so remote offices and remote workers could connect to the corporate network.

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Sharktistic@reddit

Yes, I've been using a VPN for many, many years. It's only recently that I've had it essentially permanently activated though.

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ooh_bit_of_bush@reddit

Yeah, mostly for browsing geolocked sites and dodgy football streams. Also if I was using a cafe's WiFi or something.

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RandomSher@reddit

Yes I did and u like everyone else who are not being honest I got it for NSFW content. That includes many Reddit pages you would not even think would be blocked.

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hhfugrr3@reddit

Yep, had a vpn for years. Needed it when I went to China in 2019 but I'm pretty sure I had one before then anyway.

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eren_yeegarr@reddit

Yes, for remote desktop access, for around 15 years now.

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Martipar@reddit

Yes but it's built into the browser, it's not like i chose one separately. It's like the ad blocker, it's just part of Opera.

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P-l-Staker@reddit

The thing I hate about Opera VPN is that it just kills your Internet connection. It's complete and utter rubbish if you wanna watch anything that isn't 360p, and even that isn't guaranteed to work without buffering!

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Martipar@reddit

I don't use it, i wouldn't know.

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P-l-Staker@reddit

So what the hell are you on in the comment above? 😂

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Martipar@reddit

I have one, i don't use one, it's part of the browser.

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BillWilberforce@reddit

Which means that you're handing all of your web traffic to the Chinese government. As Opera has been Chinese owned for years.

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Martipar@reddit

They are still headquartered in Norway and abide by GDPR. The racism regarding ownership is a bit nuts though, just because it's partly owned by China it doesn't mean the Chinese are any more interested in my visits to Reddit or whatever than a US, UK or Australian owned browser would result in their respective governments having a look.

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Logical_Strain_6165@reddit

It's weird people blindly trust a VPN more then an ISP.

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tom-mart@reddit

I had at least 2 VPNs installed on my smartphones for years. One commercial, mainly used to unblock country restricted content on streaming services. Second to connect to my home network to access all my self-hosted services.

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TheEnglishNorwegian@reddit

Yes, mostly used for work stuff, but also for connecting to any form of public WiFi.

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Thin_Pin2863@reddit

I've had one for several years, predominantly to get around geoblocking.

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NorthernStar2184@reddit

I've never been asked for ID online.

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OldLondon@reddit

No, still don’t. Have one on my work phone but not my own.

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EmotionalDesign2876@reddit

I got a Swiss-based VPN on my laptop around the time the current US president took office.

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EuroSong@reddit

Yes - I use it to block ads!

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Artificial100@reddit

Never had or used a VPN. Now both of those boxes are ticked.

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Astronaut_Street@reddit

Yes I'm security conscious and never connect to public WiFi without a vpn. I usually use mobile data and refuse public WiFi. It's handy when travelling. It's free with revolut metal so I might as well.

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Logical_Strain_6165@reddit

We monitor suspicious sign ins at work and we get a lot more alerts since the Online Safety Act. Most of these are personal devices using a VPN.

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ohmygodadameget@reddit

I've used a VPN for years just on principle, successive governments seem to have a hard on for wanting to know anything and everything you browse and companies have always had one for your personal data, so I've always viewed it as a bit of a "fuck you all", despite me not having anything particular of interest to hide. It's more a case of, the more they seem to want to police and snoop on our viewing habits the less I want them to know over anything else, in the same way we would tell an incessantly nosy neighbor to just go fuck themselves.

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Logical_Strain_6165@reddit

Hopefully you trust your VPN provider more then your ISP

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iamnosuperman123@reddit

Yes I did to watch the rugby.

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Richmonds-a-Dorkie@reddit

Yes. I’ve been using VPNs for years.

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N3vvyn@reddit

Yes, various actually depending on what I'm doing.

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LordSexyAsshole@reddit

Ever since the snoopers charter. I don’t want my ISP to log my internet history. Reddit was up in arms over this at the time. But most people forgot. Like they’ll forget everytime the government increases its overreach. We are apathetic.

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Justan0therthrow4way@reddit

Had one for years

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QueefInMyKisser@reddit

I have a VPN on a Raspberry Pi that gets me back to my home broadband connection. But that’s the opposite of getting around sites that are blocked in the UK, but because some services don’t work when I travel abroad.

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mjratchada@reddit

Yes the country I am from blocks countless websites that have content critical of the government. The same in many other countries. People also used it for streaming and privacy concerns. So yes, millions have had done it. previously.

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ActionBirbie@reddit

Literally billions of people, FFS.

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garlicmayosquad@reddit

Yes, because we have pretty 1984 laws around surveillance and mass data collection, it makes that ever so slightly harder for the powers that be.

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Ricky_Martins_Vagina@reddit

Yes. Main reason being I spend most of my time in the Middle East where even a lot of regular services / websites are blocked - Whatsapp calls in particular, for example. I also found that my bank cards and credit cards would regularly get blocked for suspicious activity when I was ordering stuff online from one country or another. Ever since I started using VPN and setting it to UK I rarely have that issue.

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TheNotSpecialOne@reddit

Nope. Only now I do

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Motor-Command-2680@reddit

I did but i rarely used it. Now i never surf online without it.

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peacemongler@reddit

Only for travel.

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