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Important: Not all VPN services are the same. Only VPNs with good encryption protocols improve the security of your connection. However, despite what people think, proxies and Tor do not improve internet security whatsoever (sometimes even the opposite).
To improve internet security: A lot of people use these systems to avoid having their banking or personal information robbed by third parties, especially when they connect via public networks (a risk that is getting exponentially larger).
While a VPN, proxy or Tor can be used to unblock this content, currently only good VPN providers and certain proxies are able to offer browsing speeds compatible with streaming.
For example, they are used to watch series and movies on Netflix when you are in a country in which it does not exist or if you prefer to use the Netflix from another country.
To unblock websites with geographic restrictions: Another common use for these systems is to unblock content which is geographically restricted, and mainly video content (such as television programs, series or podcasts). While these three systems may allow you to avoid restrictions on certain web sites (such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube), in practice, VPNs are the most reliable system for getting around restrictions to date. For example, YouTube is blocked in at least 10 countries. The most famous of them are China and Iran, although internet restrictions are present in many other countries, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Russia. To avoid internet censorship: As you already know, there exist certain countries with restrictions on internet use. The article is intended to be understandable for any person, and because of this, it may contain oversimplifications and opinions.Ĭurrently, these three systems have three main uses: This article aims to explain in a simple and clear way what VPNs, proxies and Tor are, as well as the differences between them.