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VPN (Virtual Private Network)

Network Privacy

Encrypted tunneling to a VPN gateway.

Definition

A VPN establishes an encrypted tunnel (e.g., WireGuard, IPsec, OpenVPN) between a client and a gateway, routing traffic through the gateway and masking client IP to destinations.

In plain English Encrypted tunneling to a VPN gateway.

Why this matters

Why it matters: It shifts trust to the VPN operator and can mitigate local network monitoring and some geolocation-based tracking.

Example

Example: WireGuard tunnel from client to provider POP with policy-based routing.