online privacy Archives - Mom's Guide To Travel

May 20 2015

The Value of A VPN App When You Travel Abroad

Is your data protected right now with a VPN as we speak? While we depend more and more on our tablets and smartphones for the convenience of working, shopping, banking anywhere, we’re also exposing our data more freely.

Did you miss my blog series on how to protect your online privacy when you’re traveling? If you did, don’t fret. I’m still working as an ambassador with F-Secure and have new VPN insight to share.

In the link above I covered (at length) this handy VPN app available for your devices. I’ll try not to repeat myself too much in this post but I really like this product for travelers and want to make sure that you understand how useful it can be for you.

How To Maximize Use of The VPN app

Instead of me explaining away in text how you set up the app, check out this 45 second video:

That’s it. Simple. Download, choose your location, and turn it on. Regular folks get a 14-day trial but you’re special because you’re here reading my blog. YOU get a free 3-month trial!

Download the app here: http://bit.ly/1e4tKqQ and use this code: qhh42f.

My abroad experience with the VPN app

So, while I was in Spain earlier this month, I had a chance to finally experience the true value of the Freedome VPN app. Stateside, I’ve been using the app primarily to protect my data when I jump on open wifi networks.

What I’ve liked most is that it’s also blocked tracking attempts. I really felt freer using hotspots this time around.

The iPhone has been self-sufficient in blocking harmful sites so this feature wasn’t a huge draw for me. What I really liked about the app and didn’t understand until I was abroad, is that I can choose virtual locations that give me access to geo-restricted content.

What does “access to geo-restricted” mean?

Say you’re in Spain (or Finland) and you want to watch Netflix or HBO Go while you’re on the hotel’s wifi. Ain’t gonna happen if you don’t have a VPN app with geo-accessible capabilities.

You’ll get a message (as I’ve gotten while traveling in London), “this content in not available in your country.” Very frustrating when you just want to watch t.v. or catch up on streaming news from home.

My husband expressed this frustration last October while we were in a t.v.-free apartment in Greece. He couldn’t access his ESPN app to catch a Steelers game. He was slightly annoyed.

With the Freedome-VPN app, all you do is switch your location to the United States (or whichever county has content you want to access but can’t) and the app cloaks your phone to appear as if it’s in that country. Voilá. Pretty cool, huh?

This is a beautiful thing for families wanting to access their cable subscriptions while traveling abroad with their kids.

Once I got home, I decided to move the VPN across to ~~our~~ my husband’s Android tablet. His recent trip to Costa Rica left his data all kinds of exposed. Not any more. Now he’ll be protected AND he can watch his ESPN while he’s out of the country.

In short…

Whether you’re traveling abroad or at home, a VPN app is prudent to keep your data privacy safe. The added value is being able to access all the things you love to watch no matter where in the world you are.

Freedome is available for all Android, iOS and Kindle Fire devices. Download the app here: http://bit.ly/1e4tKqQ and enjoy your own three-month free trial with this code: qhh42f.

Let me know what you think. How can this app work for you? Do you currently use a VPN app? What do you love/hate about it. I’ll be giving away something special in a few days so I’d love to know.

Thanks to F-Secure Freedome for helping keep the lights on over here and bringing me on as an ambassador again. The app specs are theirs but all opinions are my own.

Mar 03 2015

An On-Camera Look At Online Privacy Protection

If you’ve never thought about protecting your online privacy, now is the time to give it some consideration. As we become more connected, data hacking is becoming more prevalent.

Most of us are being tracked right now.

What information is stored on your devices?

I have all types of information on my phone. Even more on my computer. As parents, many of us keep pictures of our kids on our devices, important medical information for easy access, account passwords and more.

Last month I spoke about the relevance of privacy protection when you’re traveling, specifically overseas. Many of us, in the absence of 3 or 4G, jump on free Wi-Fi hotspots ignorant of the potential risks we’re taking with our private information.

This is where virtual private networks (VPNs) like the F-Secure Freedome app come in to play.

If you’ve been following along in this sponsored series, you will remember the main benefits of the VPN app are:

data encryption
stripped tracking
harmful websites are blocked

In the video, I talk about my experience using the Freedome app these past few weeks, showing you how much it’s protected my information. The app is available for download for PC, droids, and iPhones. The Mac version will be released in a couple of months. Here’s a free 90-day code: qsf257.

Watch the video to get a closer look at what the app looks like and what it does. Leave a message in the comments about how you protect your data, whether at home or when you’re traveling. What do you think about adding a layer of protection on your phone using virtual private networks?

Feb 22 2015

Be Invisible With Online Privacy: iPad Giveaway #privacyisnogame

How many times has your phone or computer been tracked today? Are you protecting your online privacy?

If you don’t know the answers to those questions, then take a look at last week’s blog post to learn why you should. I talk in depth about the threats we face each day when we use hotspots and free wifi, especially when we travel.

A quick Re-cap

Our data is constantly being tracked. In some cases, we may be granting criminals carte blanche to our private information. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) offer the protection that many of us don’t know we need.

Financial companies, government agencies, and corporations who want to protect sensitive information, all put their networks behind VPNs. It’s just standard procedure. Once an expensive option for the average consumer, VPNs are now extremely affordable.

And in your case, for 90-days it’s completely free!

F-Secure’s Free Trial

F-Secure is offering a FREE 90-day trial for you to test out their VPN app. Download it on itunes or Google Play and use the following code: qsf257.

As motivation, I’m hosting a giveaway. It’s the Freedome Challenge for a FREE brand new iPad Mini 16GB Wi-Fi with a FREE year of Freedome VPN to protect all your devices! Lots of “free” going on. Basically, it’s a win-win.

Think about it, downloading the VPN http://bit.ly/1uCeoku, you get to protect your data for 90 days. AND if you win, you get a free iPad mini and another year of protection…for FREE. Even if you don’t win, you have 90 days of online privacy protection. Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Enter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Experience So Far

Since downloading the app 11 days ago, over two thousand tracking attempts have been blocked. 2,196 to be exact! Whenever I try to open a harmful site, the VPN comes up and stops me. Love it! Here’s a picture of my VPN app in action:

Rules and regulations for the giveaway: Contest only open to legal U.S. residents. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Giveaway entry period begins February 22, 2015 and ends March 1, 2015 23:59 EST. One winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries received during the giveaway entry period on or after March 2, 2015. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 24 hours to respond in order to claim prize. Failure to respond within 24 hours or if winner does not meet eligibility requirements another winner will be selected at random.

Prize: One (1) Apple iPad mini 16GB WiFi and 1 year VPN coverage from F-Secure Freedome. Prize can not be substituted for cash or altered in any way. One entry per household. Contestants will be disqualified for submitting multiple entries.

Disclosure: F-Secure has chosen me to work with them as a brand ambassador. This may be a sponsored post but I’m a fan of this product and all opinions expressed are my own.

Feb 12 2015

How To Protect Your Online Privacy When Traveling #privacyisnogame

How much do you think about your online privacy at home?

Not at all?
A little?
A lot?

What about when you travel abroad? Do you pick up a SIM card and use 3G or 4G or are you the king/queen of jumping on free hotspots?

It’s important for me to not only share ideas with you about where to go and how to travel more but also about your safety.

Our security tips article focused on your physical safety but smart travel in today’s world is also about technological safety.

The Hot Spot Queen

Every year I travel to London for one of the biggest travel trade shows to learn about new destinations, global trends, and travel tech. It’s always educational, informative, and fun but it’s also technologically challenging.

When I travel abroad I never have reliable phone service because my iPhone is locked. I use a global phone to be able to call home but if I want to get online, I’m constantly searching for a hotspot.

It’s inconvenient but it’s cheaper than paying a month of tuition to Sprint for international data service.

Is Free WiFi Really Free?

Last year, the apartment that I rented didn’t have free WiFi (as they advertised) so my few days there were spent jumping on a BTW Free WiFi network. I used it to check my social media, get on Skype and chat with the family. I loved the idea of jumping on a random hotspot, using the internet and calling home for free.

Sound familiar?

The following video exposes the truth about free WiFi. When we hop onto random hotspots, we’re placing our online privacy in jeopardy.

In the first half of the experiment, IT Security Consultant, Finn Steglich sets up a dummy hotspot in the middle of Canary Wharf’s shopping center. Funny enough, I sat in one of the cafes in that center, drinking coffee, enjoying a couple of hours of connectivity.

After watching the experiment, I question how much “free WiFi” really costs me? When I was in London, did I give a criminal carte blanche to my sensitive and private information?

Steglich mentions how users “callously connect to any free hotspot network that’s available.” (Raising hand). He shows how many people jump on his fake setup, something that data criminals practice.

We hotspot jumpers could be giving away our sensitive secrets and not know anything about it!

Be Aware Of Privacy Risks

It’s briefly crossed my mind that these hotspots and free WiFi networks could be unsafe but I never did anything about it. I used them for the convenience.

When you’re in a foreign country with a locked phone and no 3G, you’re desperate. You feel disconnected. For an online influencer that’s a problem.

However, your phone being hacked is a bigger problem. Not sure about you but my online privacy is a non-negotiable. Now that I’m aware of how I can protect my phone and the potential security risks, I’m changing my ways.

Virtual Private Networks

So what do you do?

Add a virtual private network (VPN) to your WiFi so that your phone is protected. Sounds complicated but it’s not. We used them all the time when I worked in the financial industry. They were expensive and complicated back then but not anymore.

F-Secure Freedome has a VPN app that you can put on your phone. It’s been available on iOS and Android for a year, providing the ideal protection for travelers and mobile workers. It has 4.5/5 stars on Google Play and the App Store. This is what it does:

Encripts your data
Strips out tracking
Provides connection to your home base
Blocks out harmful websites
Keeps you and your secrets safe

What I like about F-Secure Freedome is that it’s more than just a VPN. It makes my phone secure and private no matter how I connect to the web plus it lets me choose virtual locations that give me access to geo-restricted content anywhere in the world.

Free Trial Offer

If you’d like to download the app and take the VPN for a run, here’s a FREE code for a 90-day trial period: qsf257. Use it when you download in either Google Play or the App Store.

There’s also a FREE 14-day trial for Windows. OS X protection is still in the pipeline. I can’t wait until the OS X version is out. I log on to free networks from my Mac both overseas and at home as well.

Criminals are becoming more and more technologically savvy. You need to be smarter than them. Next time I travel abroad, I can worry less about my secret information being leaked.

Take it for a test run yourself . As of Sunday February 8th, 1,452 tracking attempts have been blocked on my phone.

I’m grateful to F-Secure Freedome for selecting me as an ambassador to write about this data security issue. All opinions expressed within are my own.