Internet Privacy Is Dead, VPN Or Otherwise

Now that Congress has officially killed privacy for internet users, a new day is dawning over the World Wide Web. For starters, people are going to have to get used to the fact that every single thing they do over the internet is now being watched. Even using a virtual private network (VPN) is no longer the safe option that it used to be since it only offers limited protection now.

As The Washington Post points out, a lot of internet users are freaking out over the decision by the House of Congress to scrap the privacy protection act that the previous administration’s FCC enacted. People want to know what is going to happen now that they are no longer safe from ISP datamining. As it turns out, the development doesn’t do an awful lot in reality.

Speaking to a cyber-security expert, the publication reports that selling the user data that ISPs mine would be tricky since these companies usually have their own privacy policies that could prevent them from doing so. The FCC privacy measure was simply meant to put legal emphasis and a blanket ban on collecting and selling user information without their consent. However, if an internet carrier decides to sell this information in violation of its own privacy policies, the company can be taken to court.

For those who are worried that scrapping the privacy policy will result in increased government spying, one thing doesn’t really have much to do with the other. The termination of the measure doesn’t provide Federal agencies with more power to implement surveillance measures since it was never meant to stop them in the first place.

On that note, users should still be aware that difficult doesn’t mean impossible, as AT&T had proven in the past by selling user information worth millions. Even worse is the fact that VPNs only offer a limited amount of protection, especially for users who already have accounts on sites like Amazon and Netflix, USA Today reports.

VPNs will only hide the users’ information during transit, but it won’t protect them when they voluntarily reveal their presence. As a result, privacy is dead regardless of what users do.