The reasons to use a VPN in France and on a trip

Are you going on a trip soon? Think about using a VPN to protect your digital data and take no risk!

Everyone can assess the traditional risks associated with travel. But few people actually discern the digital risks they face in a foreign country. And yet, these risks are numerous and real. And, the possible damage is often very embarrassing or even dramatic.

Apart from a rigorous caution, there is only one solution to protect yourself effectively: the VPN. This article will help you to better understand why a VPN is essential on a trip and what protections it will bring to you in a practical, simple and effective way.

What is a VPN?

A VPN ( Virtual Private Network or Virtual Private Network in French ) is like your own private tunnel secured to the Internet. All the information you send and receive online is encrypted before they pass through the network and are therefore protected from indiscrete eyes.

Concretely, this means that all your activity (the sites you use, connection information, your messages and calls online) remains absolutely private with a VPN in France or abroad.

What's that for?

A VPN in France or elsewhere is the possibility of using a multitude of servers in different countries. They are the private virtual network you access. Connecting to these remote servers allows you to hide your real IP address and access the Internet only behind the IP address of a server in the country of your choice.

This possibility is very important, because when you are on a trip, you can always connect to the Web from a French server and access the same services as from France. The reverse is also possible.

The use of a travel VPN is recommended, as a VPN can protect computer hackers, scams and thieves that could access your mobile devices and computers when you connect to public Wi-Fi access points. Connecting to public or free Wi-Fi is a must on a trip, so it is necessary to have a VPN.

Finally, it is possible to work from anywhere with an online VPN. This includes when you use Wi-Fi on your phone or tablet in any airport, inn or other public/semi-public network. This is especially true for everything that requires additional security, such as online banking, purchases or e-mail, or any secure business transactions that you have to do from abroad.

How to choose your VPN?

If you are wondering what VPN to use, you should know that there are two categories of services: the free online VPN and the paid VPN service for a small sum. The temptation would be to use the free VPN online, but as everyone knows, there is nothing free in this world.

If it’s free in appearance, know that the VPN service may flood you with advertisements and especially that it will use your login data to select advertisers or sell them to third-party companies. For a service supposed to ensure your safety, it is regrettable. It will therefore always be better to invest a few euros for a real VPN service in France, of quality and serious.

Finally, know that it is perfectly legal to use a VPN in France. In fact, VPNs are legal in most countries. There may be cases where the use of a VPN is contrary to the conditions of use of a particular website, but overall the use of a French or foreign VPN will not pose any legal problems to you.

What are the reasons for using a VPN?

Of course there are many practical reasons to use a VPN on a trip. The following are the main ones that will provide you with immediate security in the face of all the risks you face when travelling abroad.

Avoid having your bank account blocked

Did it happen to you to use your bank card abroad and block it? Or see access to your bank account refused for an unusual activity? Normally, you just need to warn the bank about his trip and everything goes well. In theory, because it is far from infallible.

When you make a purchase on the Internet (reservation of a hotel, an internal flight or a trip), your bank knows where the transaction takes place through the IP address. So, if you set up a VPN to give the impression that you connect from your home country instead of your vacation place, it will create less alerts in your bank’s algorithms. There will therefore be less risk that your account will be in restricted access and that you have to make multiple steps to reopen it.

This also applies to PayPal and other online financial services that are known to block your account because you connect from another country.

Secure your online activity

In many countries, you will need to connect to unsafe websites. The rise of secure websites has helped to reduce this risk, but there are still many parts of the world where there is a quantity of unsafe websites, applications and services.

However, if you launch a VPN on your device, you are then protected against spies and pirates. Your connection data is encrypted and protected by a secure tunnel. There is therefore no risk that they will not fall into the hands of unintentioned people.

Protect all your devices

The advantage of quality VPN services is that they offer you possible use on many devices. So you can protect your laptop, but also your phone or tablet.

And, when you're on a trip, it's better for your protection to be uniform on all your devices, otherwise you create a very important flaw for web pirates.

Most VPN subscriptions allow multiple simultaneous connections from one account: there is therefore no reason not to do so. And, this is the best way to be quiet.

Secure public Wi-Fi

It is when we travel that we most often connect to various public networks that are very vulnerable to cybersecurity threats.

In airports, hotels or cafes, public Wi-Fi networks provide a lot of services. However, these are open networks, which are not safe and allow anyone who uses them to access your information. Criminals are even known to install Wi-Fi access points specifically to encourage people to connect, so that they can hack or infect devices with malware.

A VPN will allow you to connect without worrying about your security and will ensure you are protected against this type of attack.

Save on online purchases

Companies not only use your Internet data to target their ads, they also use them to adjust their prices.

Let's say, for example, that in the past you've been looking for a trip to Barcelona. The prices of aeroplane tickets, car rentals and activities will increase significantly as your browser knows you are interested in this destination. The websites of airlines, car rental or tourist activities actually use your browser’s history to know how much they can increase the price of your tickets.

However, if you want to buy a plane ticket, rent a car or find an activity from the sites of your favorite price comparisons and you are subscribed to a VPN, you will have access to the most interesting prices of the market. You will no longer pass next to the good plans and succeed on holiday at low prices!

Do research without leaving a digital print

This is particularly important if you are a researcher, alert launcher, activist, journalist or political dissident. But it can avoid you many problems in many countries even if you have none of these activities. What seems ordinary to you can be subversive elsewhere or even illegal. Using a VPN masks your use of the Internet when you cannot take the risk that government agencies or other organizations are monitoring your activity.

Many travellers have already been arrested abroad for simply commenting on political issues, forgetting that freedom of expression is not a right in all countries. It is therefore important to ensure that you have a VPN to make your exchanges completely confidential by mail, your comments on social networks and anonymize your online presence.

Go to Netflix wherever you are

If you travel abroad, you will quickly realize that popular streaming services are limited in some countries. This is due to copyright agreements, which dictate where they can and cannot disseminate their content. This is why you will not be able to access the French Netflix catalogue or other streaming services from many foreign countries.

To bypass this, you need to change your connection location. The most convenient way to get there is to use a VPN service. Indeed, it will change the IP address of your computer and your streaming service will not have any idea that you have left the country.