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ISP privacy at home: what a VPN hides from your provider

Your home network is yours. The pipe it connects to is not.

Your provider sees destinations, not pages

At home, the party that sees your traffic is your internet provider. With HTTPS it cannot read pages, but it can see which sites and services every device in the house connects to, when and how much. In 2021 the FTC reported that several of the largest US providers collect that kind of data and give customers few real choices about it.

A VPN key moves that visibility from your provider to the VPN service. It is a trade, and the guides below help you decide whether it is a good one for you.

101ISP throttlingHow to tell whether your ISP is throttling you, a simple test to run, why a VPN fixes some slowdowns and not others, and where the rules stand in 2026.102What your ISP seesWhat ISP tracking actually covers at home, what the FTC found in its 2021 report, and practical ways to limit it with and without a VPN key.
Your provider is not listed?

Every home provider sits in the same spot between you and the web. The guides here apply whatever the logo on your bill.

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What a home provider can log without a VPN

  • The domain names your devices look up, unless you use encrypted DNS.
  • Which servers each device connects to, and when.
  • How much data each connection moves, which hints at streaming or downloads.
  • Your account details, address and payment history, which it has anyway.

What changed in the rules

In 2017 Congress used the Congressional Review Act to overturn the FCC's broadband privacy rules before they took effect, so no specific federal rule requires providers to ask before using browsing data for ads. In October 2021 an FTC staff report on six major providers found that many combine browsing data with other data to target ads and offer limited ways to opt out. State laws, such as California's, add some rights on top.

Where a key fits at home

With the key on, your provider sees one encrypted connection to our server and nothing about the sites inside it. ViewPoint VPN keeps no logs of what passes through, which is the part you are trusting us with instead. Encrypted DNS in your browser is a lighter step that hides lookups but not where you connect.

The key covers the whole device, so a smart TV app or a game console update gets the same treatment as your browser.

Check before you decide

  • Read your provider's privacy page for an advertising opt-out.
  • Turn on encrypted DNS in your browser.
  • Decide whether you mind your provider seeing which services you use.
  • If you do, try the key for the five free days.

Sources

Questions

Can my internet provider see my browsing history?

It sees which sites you visit, not the pages you read on HTTPS. With a VPN it sees neither.

Will my internet provider know I'm on a VPN?

It can see an encrypted connection to a VPN server. It cannot see what goes through it.

Does incognito mode hide my browsing from my ISP?

No. Incognito only stops your browser saving history on your device.

Is it legal for my ISP to sell my data?

Rules depend on your state and your provider's policy. Read the provider's privacy policy and opt-out page.

Does a VPN replace encrypted DNS?

It covers DNS too while it is on. Encrypted DNS is still useful when the VPN is off.

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