Canadian users enjoy a high degree of Internet freedom, yet they can still use the protections of a VPN. The Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015, or Bill C-51, has raised new concerns about Internet surveillance and government powers to intercept personal communications, or gain access to information on their Internet behaviour. Canada is also a member of the core five eyes intelligence-sharing network, leading to concerns about snooping basic concepts and technologies from the NSA in the US and GCHQ in the UK. What’s more, there are legitimate concerns about corporate snooping, as Internet and social media services track and store more information about where we go and what we do online.
Choosing the Best VPN for Canada
There are also many other practical reasons to use a VPN. Despite their proximity to the United States, Canadians can’t access many US streaming services, including the US version of Netflix, HBO Now and Hulu. What’s more, many Canadian broadcasters and streaming services deny access outside of Canada, making it hard to keep you with news and sports if you’re travelling or living abroad. A VPN can also be a sensible australia database directory precaution if you’re using public WiFi services while out and about, giving an extra layer of protection against others on the network spying on your Internet traffic in an effort to grab data and credentials.
You’ll find general advice on choosing a VPN in How to buy the best VPN [URL here]. In Canada, your priorities are likely to be privacy, security and protection from snooping, so we’ve focused in on VPN providers that go the extra mile to disguise your identity and location or encrypt your data. It’s also worth checking whether those providers log your activities, what information they retain, and in what circumstances they might share that information with security services or law enforcement. We’ll also note those providers that take payment through an anonymous currency, like Bitcoin.
Not all VPNs get around the blocks that prevent Canadians using US streaming services – and the services keep getting better at spotting and blocking VPNs. We mention where a service has features in place to unblock Hulu and Netflix, but there’s no guarantee that what works today will work in a few weeks’ time.
