Qualitative analysis about the experience of VPN from people with software expertise in Sweden

Sammanfattning

VPN is primarily used to encrypt your network traffic and identity online securely from a private location. This can be used as a safety measure to prevent theft of personal data. It also allows its user to change the geolocation to wherever they want which unlocks the possibility to use another country's services. Related work has shown that there are also downsides to using VPN services. Some VPN solutions do have security problems that its user could be unaware of. This study explored the experience and beliefs surrounding the usage of VPN while browsing the internet from people with software expertise. Interviews were conducted with people in different areas surrounding usage of VPN services to get a deeper understanding of why VPN is used and to what extent they believe VPN is providing anonymity and security of their data. The findings from this study is that the main reason to use a VPN is to access unavailable services. These services can vary from content online that is not available in the region from where you access the internet to services that are work related and locked to specific networks. Another finding was also that among these people the belief that the use of a VPN was enough to make a user anonymous by itself is controversial.