Please help with modern non-understandable abreviations

I can see in the 'settings' page on my computer, that it allows VPNs and I have a choice to turn this option off.
I don't know what VPNs are and I can't get any sense from google searches, so could someone please explain to me what they are, so that I can decide whether to allow them on my laptop or not.
Thank you ... and please could anyone replying use very very very simple language and no abbreviations, so that I can understand what you're saying

 

VPN = Virtual Private Network

It makes your browsing private
Unless you have bought a VPN product, you can't use it anyway.

 

So if I turn them off does that mean anyone in the world can see what I'm looking at ?

 

Hello @Michael Hewett
- the easiest thing is just ignore that .
A VPN (virtual private network) is something you can set up (you buy it like a mobile phone contract) so your internet address is private (so not your actual home address - it’s a number assigned to all internet connections). It allows you to browse or view websites with no traceable link to your internet address. People use it for work stuff usually. Theoretically anything you browse can be traced to your internet address yes.

 

No - your router will largely take care of that. You should also have sort of anti-virus/malware software also for protection.
You'd need to buy a VPN package and install it on your device to be able to use it in the first place.
Just leave it as it is and you'll be fine.

The exception would be if you have bought antivirus or similar that has VPN included - usually as a trial. Then you'd need to pay a monthly subscription to use VPN.

VPN is for accessing sensitive information over the web - so used by Ministry of Defence, Police and the like.
For everyday use, you don't need it.

 

Would it make any difference if I switched them off ?

 

No - turn it off if you want to

 

A VPN is one of those things that, if you've got it, you know you've got it because you've bought it. And people typically only refer to it by the acronym.

 

Well thank you to all you clever people out there. My brain is a bit like the fog in the garden - I don’t know what’s going on in the rest of the world. You have opened up a chink of clear weather there and let me see stuff I never knew existed. Trouble is, the fog will close in again very shortly.

 

I've been making my living as a computer programmer since before Microsoft invented Windows, and I still wouldn't claim to understand everything.

 

Some antivirus software comes with a VPN. OH recently switched ours to Bitdefender and it keeps popping up asking me if I want to use the VPN automatically when it thinks I should.

 

A little side note - VPN is also used to claim to be in a different country. Eg … um … so I can pretend to be in the UK to vote in “Strictly Come Dancing”…

 

Yes, people often use it to get around streaming restrictions - e.g. shows being available in the US but not the UK. Or to access websites that their governments would rather they didn't.

People who work from home usually use a VPN to keep their data secure. I have one on my work laptop but all I need to know about it is how to enter my login credentials.