We live in a dangerous online world where people can misuse your online information for their own gain. The same goes for ISPs as they can keep a record of your browsing data without your consent.
In this article, we will find out whether an ISP can see your search history despite using a VPN or not.
Can an ISP see my search history with a VPN?
ISPs can detect if you are using a VPN service. But, they cannot track your browsing history when you are using a VPN. However, your employer can access your web browsing activities, including the websites you have visited for official purposes, when connected to a VPN service.
On the contrary, your selected VPN service can observe what you do on the web. This means that they can compile a log of your web browsing activities performed using the VPN connection.
Therefore, you should look for different features like no-logging policy, DNS leak prevention, IP leak protection , kill switch, etc. while choosing a reliable VPN service. Therefore, your ISPs will not be able to trace your online activities when you use a VPN.
Why do ISPs log users’ online activities?
ISPs know a lot of things you do online like internet searches, web pages you visited, what you downloaded, etc. Likewise, they can record your online activities as they have to comply with local data retention laws applicable in different countries.
Moreover, they can even sell your crucial information to third-party advertisers to make ends meet. Similarly, they have to retain user data for 3 months in the US as they are required to do so by law.
ISPs store their users’ online data to throttle their internet connection. This means that they deliberately decrease their users’ internet connection speed to manage or overcome network congestion issues.
But most importantly, they do this activity to force their users to subscribe to expensive internet connection packages. Moreover, they keep an eye on their subscribers’ online tasks to see whether they are engaging in torrenting or not.
Torrenting is considered illegal in different countries around the world. In case users download copyrighted content via torrenting, ISPs can send them copyright infringement notices. As a result, they have to pay heavy fines or face imprisonment.
How can I hide my browsing history from my ISP outside of using a VPN?
Fortunately, there are other options that you can use to protect your browsing information from the prying eyes of ISPs. For this reason, you may want to consider using a TOR browser . A Tor browser provides a secure web browsing experience to its users. By doing so, you can hide your browsing history from your ISP.
However, this tool has its drawbacks as it won’t help you protect your IoT devices. That said, TOR is still an impressive privacy option that you can opt for to protect your online tasks from your ISPs.
Additionally, you can use HTTPS browser extensions to secure the activities you do when visiting different websites. ISPs know when you visit streaming websites, but they can’t trace the TV shows or movies you watched.
In short, an HTTPS browser extension helps you encrypt your communication with different websites or services. For example, HTTPS Everywhere is a browser extension that you can download on your different browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.
Wrap up
So, there you have it, guys. Your ISPs can see that you have connected to a VPN. It can also monitor how much data you have consumed in terms of downloads and uploads while using a VPN.
However, your ISP cannot monitor the websites you visit after connecting to a VPN server. Surprisingly, a VPN itself can keep an eye on your web browsing activities. Therefore, you should prefer using a VPN that does not store its users’ data.
There is no harm in selecting a VPN service that offers features like a no-logging policy and an internet kill switch. This way, you can completely protect your online whereabouts.
