If you’ve ever heard anything about the surveillance systems of citizens in different countries, you would know to which extent government spies can extract information from your personal files saved online. Your profiles, shared files and online bank account passwords can easily become compromised and exposed; and all this is done legally by government surveillance programs so that you can’t even press a claim.

According to private Wi-Fi agencies, the groups that govern over us have been seeking backdoor access to the most popular websites to obtain unlimited amounts of data, as well as creating huge databases of all the emails we send to track our communications. Data brokers can easily hijack all of this stored information and sell it off, which of course, can cause huge losses for individuals and businesses alike.

While some may still frown upon this notion, it is not completely unimaginable for us to believe that government agencies do take certain measures to monitor the communication patterns and data transfers of the citizens. Regardless of the the extent to which they may be conducting this surveillance, it is still better to take measures to protect yourself online, so that your files and communications remain spy-free.

Now that there is general awareness of the fact that we are being monitored, let’s delve deeper into the nature of the information the government can easily get their hands on if you don’t have enough security.

What the Government Knows

Let’s take a look at a few international scenarios in this regard in recent history.

The American National Security Agency (NSA) implemented a new project back in 2007 called PRISM. This project intercepted all the communications between foreign nationals and U.S. citizens. The information that was intercepted belonged to the users of some of the most prominent corporations like Apple, Facebook, Skype, Google, YouTube, and Yahoo. The NSA monitored everything extensively: videos, IM chats, email, photos, VOIP (internet phone calls), stored data, video conferences and social network information. Additionally, the government has also recently admitted to monitoring and storing cell phone conversations.

This is not the only example however. Developed and underdeveloped countries alike try to enforce stringent regulations on the monitoring of all data transferred from other locations into the country’s regional systems, or vice versa. For instance, in the UK they have launched many programs time and time again to oversee the communications of their entire citizenship, and while the urgency surrounding the current state of world affairs may legitimize such measures, there isn’t much business owners and enterprises can do about this in a court of law.

All of this raises one question: is this not illegal? Well, technically speaking, no. While the government may press on the claim that citizens were not being targeted specifically, the public has started looking for sturdier protective measures to block spies and defend their digital information.

How VPNs Protect You from Spies

The great news is, protecting yourself from these surveillance projects is not as difficult as it would sound. Let’s face it; they are not using anything more hi-tech than cyber thieves and data brokers, and thieves probably have better stories to tell. Always remember to assume that everything you are doing online can be seen or saved by others, so it would be careless to leave your bank account details or social login passwords anywhere. In fact, it’s a great idea to change all of your passwords every few months into more complex ones that would be harder to break.

All of these issues will become a worry of the past with a Virtual Private Network (VPN); a network that works as software that can privatize and secure data across the online world by creating an encrypted tunnel. When you transfer anything, the data that you transfer travels through the VPN tunnel safe from any interceptions, and even if your data is compromised, your identity remains protected. A VPN can mask your IP address, which can give you improved protection for fluent communications and smooth transfers online.

A VPN will monitor all your files, communications, and any data transfers to identify any breach of data or threats at the right time, and eliminate them. If you own a small or large business, it is highly recommended that you use this data encryption so your data and private information stays safe.