Is online privacy a priority for you? Proxies and VPNs promise to uphold it in the face of increasingly aggressive targeting advertising and frequent data breaches. This article will fill you in on the differences between the two. Explore them and start taking concrete steps to secure your online identity.
Operating Principles
Before diving into the differences, let’s briefly discuss what happens during a regular internet connection. When connecting normally, your computer or phone accesses online content directly through your internet service provider. The IP address your ISP assigns while doing so is a unique identifier.
Advertisers, your ISP, or bad actors can see this IP address and track you through it. Both proxies and VPNs hide the IP address, rendering your connection anonymous. How they do it isn’t the same, and one can be better than another, depending on your use case.
How do proxies work?
A proxy is a remote web server you can use to access any website without revealing your IP address. You send a request to the proxy, which then forwards it to the site you’re after. That site then loads and returns relevant info to the proxy, which sends it back to you. That way, you can interact with websites normally without exposing your location.
Since proxies are available worldwide, they’re great for getting around geological restrictions.
What about VPNs?
Virtual private networks follow the same basic premise as proxies. You pick a provider, connect to a server anywhere in the world where they have coverage, and get anonymous internet access. Whereas most proxies work only with internet browsers, VPNs encompass your entire connection. That means any app that needs online access enjoys the same protection.
Moreover, VPNs provide security along with privacy. They do so by encrypting the connection. Encryption entails transforming any data you send or receive into unreadable nonsense. Hackers might still intercept it, but they won’t be able to decipher it without the decryption key.
Are There Different Types of Proxies and VPNs?
Yes, and the differences can be significant. We can sort either into free and paid options. There are lots of free proxies and some free VPNs. All promise secure browsing but are often slow and may even sell rather than protect your data. Free options don’t care about security as much and are more likely to become cyberattack targets.
Whether you need a VPN or proxy, it’s best to consider a paid option. They have superior feature sets & dedicated customer support. Plus, annual plans and other discounts cut the cost down significantly.
Most common proxy types
It’s possible to categorize proxies in several ways. Most are HTTP proxies and work only via a browser. However, SOCKS5 proxies also work for individual apps or p2p networks since they operate on the fifth networking level.
Transparent proxies are popular in the workplace and with concerned parents. Users aren’t aware they’re active, but transparent proxies still protect them from accessing unsafe sites.
Several proxy types focus on anonymity. For example, high anonymity proxies delete any info on their users before connecting to a requested site.
Datacenter proxies assign IP addresses from datacenter pools. They’re popular since they don’t cost a lot and barely affect speed. Residential proxies are the most refined since they use individual IP addresses issued by ISPs in their operating areas. Mobile proxies get their IP addresses from 4G LTE or 5G networks and mimic real users and are therefore more secure and less easily detected.
VPN types
VPNs might use varying protocols but generally fall under two categories. Corporate VPNs protect all users in a corporate network from threats. They include onsite and remote employees as well as branch offices. Conversely, individuals can opt for personal VPNs.
However, when opting for VPNs, selecting a reliable provider is important. The market is flooded with options, and committing to one provider could be trivial. To make it easier, you must gauge what you need from this tool. Sources like the VPN comparison table on Reddit could help you do so.
What Are the Use Cases for Each Service?
Despite the similarities, proxy server and VPN use cases don’t entirely overlap.
Proxies can act as firewalls, restricting users from visiting dangerous or inappropriate content. Since they bypass geographical restrictions, companies often use proxies to check up on marketing campaigns in other parts of the world and to protect themselves from ad fraud.
Web scraping is among the most popular uses for proxies. Conducting it requires making many requests, which the website you’re trying to scrape might interpret as an attack. Specialized proxy networks can mimic human behavior and ethically scrape all the data you need with minimal setbacks.
VPNs excel at securing connections. Even public Wi-Fi, otherwise a prime target for hacking and snooping, becomes an anonymous and secure online communication when you route it through a good VPN.
What Are the Drawbacks?
Since neither technology is perfect, you’ll have to weigh the cons along with the pros.
Lack of security is the main proxy drawback compared to VPNs. They’ll protect your locations just as well, but you don’t get the added benefit of encryption. Most proxies also only work on the browser level.
VPNs can slow down your internet connection. Also, some sites & services can recognize that you’re using a VPN and may not work correctly. Having an active VPN slightly increases data consumption. While not a big deal on desktops and Wi-Fi, it can add up on cellular data plans.
The Future of Proxies and VPNs
If current privacy trends are any indication, both technologies will become even more relevant. Governments are instituting laws that safeguard their citizens’ digital rights. Moreover, citizens are becoming increasingly aware of their rights and the commodification of their data.
Privacy-focused browsers are gaining traction among individuals. Meanwhile, companies are adopting holistic systems like Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) to manage network access and security more efficiently. As attacks on our privacy continue to mount, new solutions emerge while tried & true ones like proxies and VPNs adapt to keep up.
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