By now you may have heard about President Trump’s decision to repeal the Internet privacy laws. In a nutshell, what this means is Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may be able to sell your browsing history to the highest bidder without having to consult you first.

I don't know about you, but this rubs me the wrong way. I may not have anything to hide, but I don't want some company evaluating my browsing activity to develop a profile on me and how they can sell my information to advertisers to better sell me stuff. I already sold my soul to Google and considering how heavily I rely upon its services, it already knows me a little too well. I'm drawing a line with my ISP.

With this in mind, I decided to look up how to tackle these new developments and allow myself some degree of privacy. One of the easiest ways that I was already aware of is to simply enable secure connections where possible, assuming the website doesn't already do it automatically (i.e.: your financial institution). Facebook allows these secure connections, and it's worth enabling even if it feels unnecessary as it means you're browsing with a greater degree of peace of mind.

And then we have what is perhaps the most effective and widely discussed means of tackling the new changes in online privacy: a virtual private network (VPN).

Without getting into too many technical details, a VPN functions as a way to securely browse the web without the prying eyes of your ISP monitoring all of your activity. Instead of going through your ISP’s servers, all of your traffic from your computer, tablet or smartphone is encrypted, which means you enjoy a greater degree of privacy and additional security, especially when using public Wi-Fi hotspots. There's a lot more to it, but that's the gist.

After heeding suggestions about using a VPN, I decided to do some research. There are numerous free and paid options, including popular services you may have heard of like Hidemyass. After reading reviews and evaluating prices, I went with a top rated service called NordVPN after discovering a coupon code that substantially lowered the price for an annual subscription.

I consider myself pretty well-versed in technology, but I still had my reservations about setting up NordVPN and how complicated it was going to be. To my surprise and delight, the process was very straightforward. After installation, I logged in and was presented with a map of the world showing where all of the servers are located. I was free to choose any of them just by clicking or I had the option of using the convenient connection wizard to help me find one best suited to my needs. Sure enough, in just a few a simple clicks I was set up and browsing with the additional layer of privacy and security provided by a VPN.

I’m not suggesting using a VPN for doing anything illegal. Instead, consider it a way to circumvent your ISP literally selling you out to advertising companies. I have plenty of guilty musical pleasures I like to research, but I prefer not to divulge such information unless I specifically choose to do so.