Privacy

A VPN will protect you from your ISP, your router, or any public network you connect to knowing which specific domains you go to. (HTTPS protects the rest, so without a VPN they might be able to see you visit socialmedia.com but not socialmedia.com/thisspecificperson/thisspecificpost, and with a VPN, all of your traffic would just look like your computer > VPN company)

A VPN won't protect you from the places you visit online fingerprinting you with anything other than your IP address. If a site can see your screen size, installed extensions and fonts, what graphics capabilities your computer has, the username of your account, your typing style, browser version and type, etc, it's not gonna be hard to figure out that you're the same person whether or not your VPN is on.

Use a VPN if you don't trust your current network, or your internet service provider to not log what domains you go to. (or to circumvent region-blocked content by connecting to a server in that region) Don't use a VPN if that doesn't matter to you. Everything else about your privacy will likely remain identical otherwise.

A VPN prevents your ISP from seeing exactly what websites you're visiting. Depending on your local laws and censorships, this can be either the difference in a jail sentence or a letter saying "don't download Green Day America Idiot again >:("

A VPN doesn't prevent digital fingerprinting, user accounts/profiles from being created, or dark tracking. It's entirely possible to be identified even with a VPN; you can't eat your cake and have it too.

Tl;dr you should really consider your VPN as just a shield from your ISP seeing where you go. It's not a one-click solution to anonymity, it's just one layer of many in a good opsec solution

It hides traffic from your ISP or cellular provider. Who are monitoring your traffic and location and selling that information in aggregate to 3rd parties.

It also conceals your location from websites and makes it a little harder to ID you. Websites have other methods of identifying you, cookies, device specs, the type of browser you’re using, patterns of usage, ect ect. Hiding your IP takes one point of data away from them but is basically useless if you’re not taking other steps like disabling certain browser functionality.

I found that a lot of sites will throw a lot more of a fit from VPN usage on a mobile device than they do from a desktop.

VPN encrypts your traffic and obscures it from your ISP, as well as the server you're reaching out to.

Unfortunately a lot of people use VPNs to hide their malicious activity, and for that reason, many sites will block the connection. It's unfortunately just the way it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network

OK, I've posted this elsewhere and took a moment to find it:

1. Phone on airplane mode (eliminates WiFi/BT cellular & GPS tracking)

2. run physical mobile hotspot device for data (like Calyx hotspot - +1pt if you pick Moxee or Orbic model to also run rayhunter from EFF)

3. connect to hotspot over WiFi with random MAC addresses (effectively eliminates IMSI tracking)

4. Enable a solid VPN with Kill switch. (Helps hide location and other usage from ISP)

5. Use e2ee chat/text/phone apps over WiFi like Signal, SimpleX, XMPP server or app (servers=Jabber, Prosody, Snikket, etc apps are Cheogram, Snikket, Conversations - eliminates carrier tracking to an extent unless you can also get your friends and family on it)

6. Run a degoogled OS with profiles capability

7. Run alt app stores - preferably F-Droid or something without Google services

8. Run Firefox forks like Librewolf or Waterfox or even Ironfox with Port Authority and Privacy Badger extensions

9. Use a more private search engine or host your own. I like Ecosia which does have some ads, but they're not evil (yet) and help with reforestation. There are others, I forget names. Someone can add to this list.

10. Something you can do to help your wife though, without running anything additional, run an adblocker like Pi-hole, Adguard, eBlocker, or Technitium

Bonus: focus on FOSS and/or other non-US tech based companies. Proton, Mullvad, Nord, and US/CAN based goodness are EFF, Calyx Institute, Privacy4Cars, so many more

That's a solid start, some easier than others obviously. Others should add to this list!

Edit: duh, forgot to say use a private email like Proton mail where you can use aliases and also SimpleLogin for additional domains/addresses that forward. I use those for insurance shopping, car shopping, or other stuff you have to have an email to communicate, and when you're done, just delete or deactivate the alias to cut spam or data being sold.

A VPN is kind of like sending a letter through the post office using someone else’s address. Like if you put the grocery store’s address on it and then stuck it in with their outgoing mail.

It gets your letter there and the post office doesn’t know your actual address, they think it came from the grocery store. Likewise, the person receiving your letter thinks it came from the grocery store too.

And the VPN handles it in reverse by taking a letter from that person and even though it gets to the grocery store, it gets delivered directly to you and no one else except you and the grocery store know that’s not actually your real address.

For privacy, this is great at protecting you from websites you don’t want knowing your real IP address which can reveal things like your exact location in the world, say Facebook. You want to use Facebook to talk to granny but you don’t want Facebook knowing your real public IP.

Some people also use them for tricking websites into thinking they are elsewhere. When you subscribe to a VPN service, they often show you different servers around the world and you can choose to appear like you’re in the UK even though you’re in the US. A site like Netflix may show Rick and Morty only to UK residents so you use a VPN to trick them into showing you shows like that.