VPN usage is skyrocketing right now in the UK and the US

[sincity]

VPNs have now become mainstream at least in the US according to a new survey that compared VPN usage in both the UK and US.

Wombat Security surveyed 1,000 users in both countries to gauge how recent developments such as the Investigatory Powers Act in the UK and new ISP rights in the US have affected consumer opinion regarding using a VPN to access the Internet.

The results of the survey revealed that 65 per cent of respondents in the US had used a VPN on either a corporate or a personal device, while only 44 per cent of those surveyed in the UK said that they had used a VPN (including free VPNs).

23 per cent of UK respondents said that though they knew what a VPN was, they still chose not to use one which is also higher than 16 per cent in the US. 

• These are the best VPNs right now

 

Surprisingly as many as 33 per cent of UK respondents did not even know what a VPN was compared to 19 per cent in the US.

The Internet is not private nor is it a safe space and whether you like it or not your activities online will be visible to others without the added protection and security of a VPN.

Some of the most popular uses for a VPN include staying safe on public Wi-Fi, shopping online securely, protecting oneself against government snooping or ISP tracking, avoiding having your bandwidth throttled now that net neutrality has been revoked and removing geo-restrictions and blocks when traveling.

Recent events worldwide and increased cyber threats are quickly turning VPNs into a household name among both businesses and consumers.

[GaryS950]

A bigger surprise was 40 percent of Australians being unaware of metadate retention when it first it the coast. It wasn't until this march/april that usage of vpns for anonymity skyrocketed. same goes for US. privacy concerns in US have been a real debate over the past few years but only when Ajit Pai's gig became popular did more people turned to Google on the prospects.