Because your internet traffic at home moves to and from your devices through your internet service provider — ISP for short — they can see where you go online. An ISP can see what sites you visit, how long you’re on them, your location and information about your devices. An ISP may not know the specifics of what you did on those sites (like what you bought, searched for or read) thanks to encryption, but they could make inferences about you based on the sites that you visited. That personal data can be used by ISPs to create detailed profiles about you. Browsing in private mode doesn’t prevent ISPs from seeing where you go online. But sending your web traffic through a VPN can make it much harder.

Omdat jo ynternetferkear thús fanen en nei jo apparaten giet fia jo ynternetserviceprovider – koart sein ISP –, kinne sy sjen wêr’t jo online binne. In ISP kin sjen hokker websites jo besykje hoe lang jo se besykje, wat jo lokaasje is en ynformaasje oer jo apparaten sjen kin. In ISP wit miskien mei tank oan fersifering net krekt wat jo op dy websites dien hawwe (lykas wat jo kocht, socht of lêzen hawwe), mar kin wol konklúzjes oer jo lûke op basis fan de websites dy’t jo besocht hawwe. Dy persoansgegevens kinne brûkt wurde om detaillearre profilen oer jo oan te meitsjen. Navigearjen yn priveemodus ferhinderet net dat ISP’s sjogge wêr’t jo online binne. Mar it ferstjoeren fan jo ynternetferkear fia in VPN kin it folle swierder meitsje.