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Even if you’re not totally sure what a VPN is, you’ve most likely encountered one in your professional life or when exchanging private information with a third party. We’re talking about stuff like taxes, NDAs, or employment forms. Not your risky texts. VPNs are a common and crucial part of protecting your privacy online.
But what is a VPN number? We’ll break it down.
What Is a VPN?
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. Under normal circumstances, when you’re online, your device connects directly to any websites or apps you access. Any information that’s sent or received is routed through your internet service provider.
Your service provider can then see what you’re doing online, track your location, and log your activity. In general, this isn’t a problem. It’s not nefarious, and more than likely, your service provider will never really look at or care what you’re doing online.
The problem is that third parties can potentially access this personal information — people like hackers, fraudsters, and worst of all, advertisers. VPNs create a secure and encrypted pathway or tunnel between your device and a private server before your device connects to the internet.
This means your service provider doesn’t see your activity, location, or details. They only see that you’ve connected to the VPN. Similarly, websites and apps that might otherwise have milked even the most innocuous data to get you in an algorithmic chokehold of annoying ads only see the VPN’s information.
…Wait. Then What’s a VPN Number?
The key piece of information a VPN protects is your IP address. An IP address is a unique set of numbers that identifies your location and service provider, which can potentially expose more information than you’d like.
There isn’t really anything called a VPN Number. It’s a bit of a misunderstanding of terms. Your VPN likely provides you a virtual IP address, which is what any third party would see when accessing your information. This virtual IP address can sometimes be mistakenly referred to as a VPN number.
Why Use a VPN?
VPNs have a wide range of uses. They’re great for protecting your online privacy. Even if you’re only doing very simple, personal tasks online, VPNs are an easy way to add a layer of security — just in case.
They’re crucial, however, for professional purposes. Particularly if you work from home or a satellite office, your company likely has VPN requirements or processes already in place to protect themselves. It’s also why even remote companies may have policies against working from places like coffee shops; without a VPN, your data could be especially exposed on public wifi.
Many financial apps will prohibit you from accessing them in countries where they don’t operate — which is fine unless you’re in the middle of nowhere and your only credit card has been flagged for fraud, and you can’t log into your account to turn it back on again. Try Burner VPN for an easy set-up and secure option.
Are There Any Downsides to VPNs?
Some highly encrypted types, like Double VPNs, run slower than standard internet or app usage. Because it’s encrypting your activity twice over, reduced speeds are a common side effect. Otherwise, there aren’t any significant downsides to using a VPN, but there is one thing to watch out for.
The dreaded signup form.
Making any kind of account in 2025 means giving out all kinds of personal information to every website or app you want to engage with. If there were Academy Awards for the worst developments humanity has ever made, forcing you to create eight thousand accounts just to function in the world would get our vote.
Now, like most people, you probably have some tactics for dealing with this. Apps that automatically create passwords and save them, an extra email address to collect wayward spam and marketing emails, maybe even a fake name to avoid any crossover. However, when you need to use a phone number for two-factor authentication or simply to activate your account, it’s hard not to expose your personal information.
Don’t let a Google verification code force you to share information you don’t want to divulge. With Burner, you can create a custom phone number that is accessible from our app. That way, it’s not linked to any personal information, and you can use and remove numbers whenever you need.
VPN and Done
A good VPN works wonders for protecting your privacy online. Whether you want to ensure your work-from-home sesh doesn’t put you or your company at risk or simply want to feel safer handling sensitive information online, VPNs are an easy way to stay safe.
At the same time, signing up for any services exposes you to data leaks and spam texts, which can be annoying at best — and, at worst, disastrous. Protect your browsing and yourself by signing up for a VPN with a temporary phone number from Burner. It’s the simplest, safest way to ensure your private life stays that way.
Sources:
What Is Double VPN and When Should You Use It? | CyberNews
Technology Explained: What Is a VPN Service? | BBC News
Digital 101: What Is An IP Address and What Does It Mean? | Lead Forensics
