
02 Mar 2018
Should You Use a VPN for Console Gaming? Here's Why You Need to and How to Do It
Gaming online presents the same risks as any online activity. And when you stop to think about it, the sheer amount of data stored on your gaming system is terrifying.
What’s to stop hackers or overreaching governments from locating your IP address, passwords, email address, credit card information, and physical home address? Also, when making purchases on the store associated with your system, you expose valuable credit card data along with addresses and email logins without thinking.
If you’ve already taken steps to protect your computer using a VPN, it’s a no-brainer to consider doing this for your gaming system as well. But, do the benefits outweigh the effort it takes to set one up? And what if the VPN slows down your system and exposes you to game-sabotaging lag or restricted NAT types?
If you’re trying to decide if you should connect your gaming system to a VPN, you’ve come to the right place. This article will walk you through the benefits and potential side-effects and then show you how to set one up today.
How Secure are Consoles?
Consoles are relatively secure when compared to computers. But that doesn’t mean they are 100% secure, safe, and free from hacking, phishing attempts, or serious data collection.
While consoles don’t have widespread exposure to viruses or malware, it’s not uncommon for hackers to attempt to gain access to your account and retrieve secure data.
On consoles, the number-one target for thieves will be your account. Your account contains everything from personal details like your full name, date of birth, and often your home address. That’s not to mention your credit card information and likely a password that you’ve used before on multiple other platforms beyond your console.
While most platforms like PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox will have multiple-step verification options that link to your email and phone, it’s not enough.
Playstation’s two-step verification process
Not when the US Department of Homeland Security awarded a nearly $200,000 contract to a computer forensics group solely to hack the encryption of data on consoles.
Not when US police branches are using console communication channels to record conversations, trace IPs, and leverage that data to arrest potential criminals.
All of those long audio conversations or sent and received messages on your account are susceptible to government access and spying, let alone hackers looking to access your data.
It’s no news to anyone that smart home devices are already spying on us, collecting data, and then reporting that data to third-party services. So why would anyone be shocked to hear that the same thing happens on consoles? It’s a market that nearly 100 million Americans spend time in each day.
Not to mention the billions more in other countries around the world.
Everything collects, saves, and reports data in the modern world. Did you Google Map search for local pizza shops or a new restaurant? You can bet that information is saved in your online profile and that third-parties can bid on it.
Did you watch a movie afterwards on your smart TV? It may have been tracking your data to sell to advertisers.
According to VentureBeat, Microsoft has catered to government agencies like the NSA, providing ways around their encryption for easy access to platforms like Xbox, Kinect, and Outlook.
A simple Google search for anything related to console data collection will return millions of results.
Why? Because it’s real.
Government entities are openly stating their efforts to breach and monitor services from smart home features to consoles and everything in between.
So, even if your password is made with a “passphrase” and free from hacking, it’s likely that your conversations and messages are exposed and linked directly to your online profile.
So, what can you do about it? How do VPNs protect your console?
Here’s how.
Advantages of Using a VPN on Your Console
With all of the news surrounding the potential loopholes with consoles and spying, it’s only natural to consider using a VPN.
With a gaming console, the potential advantages of using a VPN are huge, including avoiding a serious uptick in cybercrime. Some people who start using a VPN designed for gaming end up with faster speeds than they would by connecting to a regular network that is shared with everyone in their household and the rest of their devices.
If you experience issues with lagging when you play games or watch Netflix on your console, using a VPN that is dedicated to the console can make these problems a thing of the past.
For example, PureVPN is a dedicated console VPN that gives you benchmark data on speed and connection, providing insight into how fast your internet will be while keeping it secure:
PureVPN PlayStation VPN Details
By masking and tunneling your geographic location, using a VPN can also help you view and download content that is restricted or not yet released in your country, meaning Netflix, YouTube, or other popular streaming services won’t be restricted or impacted.
When it comes to internet browsing on your console, you can also be sure that your history isn’t stored, tracked or leveraged.
VPNs allow you to access a private network and keep data safe as you use streaming services or gaming servers. To access one, you connect to the internet through a regular public connection, then begin using the private network as you use the console. The VPN replaces your IP address with its own, tunneling your connection to different cities, countries, and server locations to effectively mask your real online location.
Most VPNs also use multiple methods of encrypting data as it transmits, making the information nearly impossible to access for even the best hackers in the business.
The specific methods each VPN uses can be different, but some of the most popular ways include SSL, PPTP and more:
SSL: Otherwise known as secure sockets layer, this protocol encrypts data exchanged between you and another website or entity. As of 2017, Google recommends that all websites have SSL.
PPTP: Also known as point-to-point tunneling, this protocol provides a key step in protecting and encrypting data by using virtual “tunnels” to hide your location information.
Let’s recap. The advantages of using a VPN on your console include:
- Secure internet browsing.
- Unblocked content on streaming services like Netflix and YouTube.
- Masking your location, history, and IP from hackers or government spying.
Choosing the Right VPN for Gaming
Choosing a VPN for your gaming console is like finding an internet provider - there are tons of different options, packages, plans, and services, meaning research is critical. You should always analyse different VPNs before making a decision.
Why? There are free VPNs, paid plans and even ones that cater to torrenting and even Netflix. With such abundance of choices, research will be necessary for your decision.
In this section, we’ll lay out specific aspects to look for when choosing your VPN.
First off, ignore free VPNs. If you're serious about gaming on your console and protecting your privacy and data, look elsewhere.
Free VPNs are not ideal for serious gamers because they often put caps on how much bandwidth you can use. If you play multiple hours daily or use your console to stream movies, listen to music, and browse the web, it’s not going to work. Speed and bandwidth caps will even affect casual playing.
Plus, many free VPN providers make money by showing you ads that can seriously disrupt the gaming experience.
More importantly, free VPNs often store logs of your information, defeating the whole purpose of a VPN. When looking for a gaming VPN, you want a plan that logs nothing. Advertisers will pay big dollars to find out more about user demographics and habits. And VPN providers can easily obtain and sell this information.
Unless you want ads, logging, lag and a sub-par experience, avoid free VPNs like the plague.
Deciding on a paid VPN plan is tough. There are hundreds of options on the market today. Some are expensive, and some are reasonably priced. But the key details are in the features they offer.
As with many services, the monthly cost is generally lower if you pay for a full year. But many VPN services will allow you to try it for a month first before you commit to a full year.
Look for a VPN that offers strong encryption to protect your privacy, and some kind of support available anytime, whether by chat or phone. That way, if you have an all-night gaming session planned and experience issues, you can get support instantly.
No matter what VPN you select, it’s critical to find out how much of your information the provider collects. If the VPN keeps a full activity log of where you go and when, it’s simply adding a wasted step in your gaming process. It could potentially give you lag and experience-hindering issues.
Before you sign on with a VPN provider, read the terms of service very carefully. Find out if they keep logs, how extensive the logs are, and what the provider’s policy says about sharing the information with third parties like law enforcement agencies, advertisers, and researchers.
The Easiest Way to Set Up a VPN with Your Console Today
There are a few different methods you can use to establish a VPN with your console.
Some require an ethernet cable, but if you don’t have one, don’t fret. The Wi-Fi capabilities of consoles are limited, so using an ethernet cable will increase your download and upload speed. However, using an ethernet cable can often limit your mobility in terms of where you plug and play.
All in all, using an ethernet cable is not essential, but it’s recommended for maximum speed and minimized lag.
Another amazing option is to purchase a router equipped with a pre-installed VPN. It’s by far the easiest, simplest option you can choose. However, convenience comes at a cost. These routers are often extremely expensive, averaging over $100 and often reaching prices of $200-$400. If you have extra money to spare and less technical experience, it’s a great choice.
If you’d rather manually use a VPN, here is an easy way to get started today.
Installing a VPN to Your Router
An easy way to get started with a VPN for your console is to install a VPN on your router.
This will allow you to simply reconnect to your Wi-Fi and have the ease of a VPN without much set-up work.
Here’s how to get started:
Step 1. Open your router’s control panel and find the tab where you can enter the VPN details.
Depending on the type of router, it may be labeled “Setup,” “Settings,” or “Network.” You can do this by heading to the control panel and clicking “View network status and tasks.”
Next, click on the Wi-Fi connection that you are using:
From here, click on “Details…” to proceed:
Look for the selection of “IPv4 Default Gateway” and the accompanying number:
Copy the value of the gateway and head to your internet browser. Paste the value and hit enter:
You are now logged into your router’s settings.
Step 2. Enter the VPN information, such as username, password, and address in the appropriate fields. You should have received this information after initially signing up for the VPN service.
Step 3. Save all of these changes and exit the control panel.
Step 4. Open the system settings for your Xbox or PS4 console and navigate to network settings.
Step 5. Choose the VPN connection and select to connect the Xbox or PS4 to the router.
Step 6. Save changes and exit.
Setting up your console to connect to a VPN only takes a few minutes, and it can save you from opportunistic hackers, malicious attacks and the worst culprit of all, long lag times when you try to binge watch Netflix (admit it, you’re guilty of this too.)
With your VPN in place, you can enjoy a wider selection of entertainment without worrying about how your information is being transmitted and who is monitoring your activity.
For additional VPN installation options, try these methods.
Conclusion
Everything from smart TVs to smart home appliances can track, store, and log data from your personal profile and you can bet that your console gaming does the same. Beyond data logging, your entire profile often contains valuable credit card, email, password, and address information, not to mention multiple government agencies openly admitting to spying on users with Kinect, PS4 cameras and recording conversations online.
Without a VPN, you leave yourself extremely vulnerable to all of those attacking forces. With a quality VPN, you can expect fast and safe gaming that’s easy to setup on any console today. Protect yourself and get your gaming console connected to a VPN.
About the Author
John Mason is a cybersecurity enthusiast. In his free time, he likes to give (free and paid) consultations and write about privacy related concerns, news, politics and technology. His work has been published in Tripwire, Digital Guardian, Glassdoor, StaySafeOnline and many more. His website is located here: JohnCyberMason.com
Note: This blog article was written by a guest contributor for the purpose of offering a wider variety of content for our readers. The opinions expressed in this guest author article are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of GlobalSign
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GlobalSign Privacy Policy Version 3.1
Updated June 5, 2018
GlobalSign respects your right to privacy. This privacy policy has been developed to inform you about the privacy practices followed by GlobalSign in connection with its websites, products and services. This privacy policy does not apply to GlobalSign services offered by or through our partners, resellers or other third parties, or other third party services or websites, and we encourage you to read the privacy policies of those parties.
This privacy policy will inform you about what data is collected, how we use such data, where data is processed, how you may opt out of your data being used, the security provisions around storing your data and how to correct, update or delete your data.
1. Data Controller
The data controller for personal data collected within the EU is GMO GlobalSign, Ltd., having its registered offices at Springfield House, Sandling Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 2LP, United Kingdom. All questions or requests regarding the processing of data may be addressed to: dpo@globalsign.com.
2. Collection of Personal Information
We collect information from you when you (i) place an order for a GlobalSign digital certificate product or other product or service, (ii) scan your servers for digital certificates using our Certificate Inventory Tool (CIT), (iii) apply for access to our managed service platforms, (iv) subscribe to our newsletter, (v) use our online chat service, (vi) download a white paper, (vii) register for a webinar, (viii) respond to a survey, (ix) fill out a form for pre/post sales assistance, (x) open a support ticket, or (xi) your use of social media.
GlobalSign is a Certification Authority and trusted third party. To fulfill requests for digital certificates or other products or services, you may be asked to enter your name, email address, physical address, phone number, credit card information and/or organizational details or other personal information.
- - Contact information such as your name, email address, physical address, and phone number.
- - Relationship information that helps us do business with you, such as the types of products and services that may interest you, contact and product preferences, languages, marketing preferences and demographic data.
- - Transactional information about how you interact with us, including purchases, inquiries, customer account information, billing and credit card information, organizational details, transaction and correspondence history, and information about how you use and interact with our website.
We may develop and acquire additional information about you using third-party (public and private) data sources such as third party databases and government agencies, as well as your browsing and purchasing history in order to process orders for certificates and to improve our services.
GlobalSign treats personal information as confidential, except for the information included in an issued digital certificate. Such information may be verified using third party commercial and government resources, and as such, is deemed to be public information.
3. Purpose of Processing
Your personal data will be used for the purposes specified below:
3.1 To process applications for GlobalSign products and services
Your information is used to provide our products and services and order processing as well as to conduct business transactions such as billing.
3.2 To improve customer service
Your information helps us to more effectively respond to your pre/post sales requests and provide technical support.
3.3 To send renewal notices
The email address you provide for order processing may be used to send you renewal notices for your expiring digital certificate.
3.4 To send service updates
In addition, subject to your consent where required, we may send you new service updates, security updates, related product or service information, and status updates on maintenance windows or service availability.
3.5 To tell you about our products and services
Subject to your consent where required, we may send you periodic company newsletters, information about our products and services that may be of interest to you based on your use of other GlobalSign products and services, your attendance at GlobalSign sponsored marketing events such as webinars, your requests for information about similar products and services, or your sharing of data with social media sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook.
4. Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data
We will process your data for the purpose of performance of our contract with you or the legitimate interest of GlobalSign, which are our usual business activities. In other cases, we will request your consent for the processing of the personal data you may submit.
Your refusal to provide personal data to us for certain products and services may hinder us from fulfilling your order for those products or services. Also, if you deny or withdraw your consent to use personal data or opt out of receiving information about GlobalSign products and services this may result in you not being made aware of renewal notices, periodic company newsletters, new service updates, security updates, related product or service information, and status updates on maintenance windows or service availability. See Section 10 below for how to withdraw your consent.
5. Use of Cookies and web beacons
The GlobalSign Certificate Center (GCC) uses cookies to enable the fulfillment of services. Cookies may be used when you log into the GCC, purchase products or use certain GCC functions.
In addition, like most online businesses, GlobalSign uses cookies and web beacons on our websites and through marketing related emails to gather and analyze some personal data such as the visitor's IP address, browser type, ISP, referring page, operating system, date/time and basic geographical information.
We use cookies and web beacons to compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can gauge the effectiveness of our communications and offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors. These service providers are not permitted to use the information collected on our behalf except to help us conduct and improve our business.
First time visitors may choose to not have any activity monitoring cookies set in their browser. We use an opt-out identification cookie to tag these users as having made this decision. Those cookies that pertain to site performance, experience improvement and marketing are programmed not to execute when an opt-out cookie is present in a visitor's browser. Opt-out cookies persist until a visitor clears their browser cookies, or until their expiration one year after the set date. A visitor is required to opt out again after one year in order to disable any activity monitoring cookies.
More details of GlobalSign's use of cookies can be found on our website at https://www.globalsign.com/en/repository/cookie-policy/
6. Use of application logs for diagnostics or to gather statistical information
Our servers automatically record information ("Application Log Data") created by your use of our services. Application Log Data may include information such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, the referring web page, pages visited, location, your mobile carrier, device and application IDs, search terms, and cookie information. We use this information to diagnose and improve our services. Except as stated in section 8 (Data Retention), we will either delete the Application Log Data or remove any account identifiers, such as your username, full IP address, or email address, after 12 months.
7. Sharing of Information and Transfers of Data
We do not sell or trade your personal information to outside parties.
Within GlobalSign: GlobalSign is a global organization with business processes and technical systems in various countries. As such, we may share information about you within our group company and transfer it to countries in the world where we do business in connection with the uses identified in section 3 above and in accordance with this Privacy Policy. In cases where your personal data is transferred to countries that do not provide an adequate level of protection according to the European Commission ('adequacy decision'), we ensure your data is protected by entering into agreements containing standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission with each of our group companies. A copy of these agreements may be obtained by contacting us as outlined in section 15 below.
Third Parties: We may also transfer your personal data to trusted third parties and our partners in order to serve purposes that are specified in section 3 above. GlobalSign uses a third party to process credit card payments and provides credit card numbers and identifying financial data directly to the third party credit card processor.
In circumstances where data is shared with such third parties, they are required to comply with confidentiality terms included in our data processing agreements. This prohibits such third parties from selling, trading, using, marketing or otherwise distributing GlobalSign customer data.
As Required by Law: We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law or protect our rights, property, or safety.
It is our policy to notify customers of requests for their data from law enforcement unless we are prohibited from doing so by statute or court order. Law enforcement officials who believe that notification would jeopardize an investigation should obtain an appropriate court order or other process that specifically precludes member notification, such as an order issued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §2705(b).
Mergers & Acquisitions: We may also disclose your personal information to third parties who may take over the operation of our site or who may purchase any or all of our assets, including your personal information. We will contact you using the details you provide if there is any change in the person controlling your information.
8. International Transfers
The third parties, subsidiaries and affiliates to which your personal information can be disclosed may be located throughout the world. Therefore, information may be sent to countries having different privacy protection standards than your country of residence. In such cases, we take measures to ensure that your personal information receives an adequate level of protection, which includes the EU Standard Contractual Clauses to protect your personal information.
9. Data retention
The personal information we collect is retained for no longer than necessary to fulfil the stated purposes in section 2 above or for a period specifically required by law or regulation that GlobalSign is obligated to follow.
To meet public CA audit requirements as detailed in the GlobalSign Certification Practice Statement, personal data used to fulfill verification of certain types of digital certificate applications will be retained for a minimum of 10 years depending on the class of product or service and may be retained in either a physical or electronic format. Please refer to the GlobalSign Certification Practice Statement for full details.
After the retention period is over, GlobalSign securely disposes or anonymizes your personal information in order to prevent loss, theft, misuse, or unauthorized access.
10. Opting out; withdrawing consent
If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, we include unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email.
Renewal notices may be cancelled on a per digital certificate basis by logging into your GlobalSign Certificate Center (GCC) account and disabling renewal notices.
Email preferences for CIT related/collected information can be updated and changed within CIT.
If GlobalSign is processing your personal data based on your consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time via the GlobalSign Preference Centre at https://downloads.globalsign.com/acton/media/2674/preference-center-login or by contacting us at one of the addresses shown in section 15 below.
11. Your Rights
You are responsible for providing GlobalSign with true, accurate, current and complete personal information. Also, you are responsible to maintain and promptly update the information to keep it true, accurate, current and complete.
You have the right to access and modify your personal data stored on GlobalSign systems. You can exercise your rights by contacting us in writing. We will require you to provide identification in order to verify the authenticity as the data subject. We will make reasonable efforts to respond to and process your request as required by law.
To the extent of applicable law, you may have the right to request erasure of your personal information, restriction of processing as it applies to you, object to processing and the right to data portability. You may also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or if we have reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future services.
12. How we protect your information
We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you place an order or enter, submit, or access your personal information. All supplied sensitive/credit information is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
After a transaction, your transaction-related information will be kept on file to meet audit requirements and facilitate renewals. We do not retain any credit card details.
13. Relevant laws
GlobalSign commits itself to protect the personal information submitted by applicants and subscribers for its public certification services. GlobalSign declares to fully respect all rights established and laid out in European Union and Member States' laws and regulations:
- - European Directive 95/46 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and as replaced by Regulation EU 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (the EU General Data Protection Regulation); and
- - Provisions of the GlobalSign CPS.
14. Changes to our Privacy Policy
If we make material changes to our privacy policy, we will inform customers by emailing a notice of the availability of a new version with a link to the new version.
15. Contact Us
If you have any inquires, or questions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at:
- We use the data you submit only for purposes identified in section 3 of this privacy policy.
- You have the right to review your personal data that GlobalSign holds and check it for accuracy.
- You have the right to correct data in the case that errors may be found in our records.
- You have the right to request that any of your personal data be erased. i.e. right to be forgotten.
- You have the right to obtain and reuse use your personal data for your own purposes
- You have the right to request that GlobalSign restrict the processing of your personal data under certain circumstances.
- You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data.
14. Changes to our Privacy Policy
If we make material changes to our privacy policy, we will inform customers by emailing a notice of the availability of a new version with a link to the new version.
15. Contact Us
If you have any inquires, or questions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at:
https://support.globalsign.com/
https://www.globalsign.com/en/company/contact/support/
https://jp.globalsign.com/support/
or
Deputy Data Protection Officer
GMO GlobalSign, Ltd.
Springfield House Sandling Road
Maidstone, Kent ME 14 2LP
United Kingdom
dpo@globalsign.com
16. Our Office Locations
GMO GlobalSign K.K., Tokyo, Japan
GMO GlobalSign Ltd., Maidstone, Kent, UK
GMO GlobalSign N/V, Leuven, Belgium
GMO GlobalSign, Inc., Portsmouth, NH, USA
GMO GlobalSign Russia LLC , Moskva, Russia
GMO GlobalSign Pte. Ltd, Anson, Singapore
GMO GlobalSign Certificate Services Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, India
GlobalSign China Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China
GMO GlobalSign Inc., Manila, Philippines
GMO GlobalSign FZ-LLC, Dubai, UAE