Ditch the VPN and Enable iCloud Private Relay on your iPhone. This setting keeps your IP address private. This service is included with all Apple iCloud+ plans.
The Short Answer
The point of this post is to highlight that while you may need a VPN for certain purposes, it is not necessary to keep your connection secure. Built-in capabilities on your browser, iPhone, or computer provide sufficient security without one. A VPN won't protect you from viruses, malware, or most modern tracking methods, despite what the commercials claim. It simply conceals your IP address from websites you visit by routing your traffic through a middleman, who then forwards it to the destination.
Regarding privacy, it's worth noting that using a VPN means trusting the VPN provider with your browsing data instead of your Internet Service Provider (ISP). While some argue that VPN providers are more trustworthy than large ISPs like Verizon or AT&T, this is not something you should take as a fact. If anything, smaller VPN startups may have a greater incentive to monetize your data compared to large ISPs, as they often rely on additional revenue streams to sustain their business.
Moreover, modern websites have numerous ways to track users beyond IP addresses. Browser fingerprinting and other advanced techniques mean that hiding your IP address alone doesn't guarantee anonymity online. Even if you hide your IP address, it's still possible for websites to track and identify you using a combination of other pieces of information they are able to see. Take a look at the device fingerprint we were able to read from this session below as an example.
When You Need a VPN — and When You Don't
When You Need a VPN
- Accessing region-locked streaming content
- Watching sports events blocked in your region
- Bypassing network restrictions at school/work
- Accessing blocked websites in restricted countries
- Using public WiFi in countries you don't trust
When You Don't Need a VPN
- General web browsing security
- Protection from viruses or malware
- Keeping your online activity private
- Securing your passwords
- Preventing tracking by websites
Your Device Fingerprint
Computed live in your browser. The only network request is the IP lookup via api.ipify.org — the same information any website you visit can see.
The items below were shared by your browser the moment you loaded this page — no permission prompts, no cookies. Individually, each value is unremarkable. In combination, they form a fingerprint that is often unique to your device, which is how websites recognize you across visits even when your IP address changes. That is why hiding your IP with a VPN does not make you anonymous.
This is the only part of the fingerprint a VPN changes. Everything below stays the same.
The user agent and language list alone narrow you down to a small fraction of visitors.
Resolution, pixel ratio, and even your dark-mode preference are all readable without permission.
Your graphics card model is one of the highest-signal values trackers can read.
Your browser just drew a hidden image; tiny rendering differences between devices make its hash a stable identifier. Every site can compute this same value — no VPN changes it.
Your timezone often reveals your real region even when a VPN says you're somewhere else.
Some browsers still expose battery state, which has been used to re-identify users across sites.
On phones, motion sensors can leak how you hold and move your device.
Sites also watch how you behave: where you came from, how long you stay, how your mouse moves. Behavioral patterns can identify you even with everything else hidden.
None of this page's values leave your browser — we display them to you instead of collecting them. Most sites do the opposite.
Additional Privacy Testing Tools
For more detailed analysis of your browser fingerprint, you can visit these specialized tools:
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