What is a VPN?

When you connect to a VPN, your device encrypts all outgoing data before sending it to a server run by the VPN provider. That server decrypts the traffic and forwards it to websites, so the sites see the server IP address rather than yours. Anyone watching the local network, such as a public Wi-Fi operator or internet provider, sees only scrambled data heading to the VPN server. Businesses have used VPNs since the 1990s to let staff securely reach internal networks from home. Today consumers use them for privacy on public Wi-Fi and to appear to be browsing from another country, though a VPN does not make a user fully anonymous.