Is it okay to use a VPN while submitting forms that require personal information?

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When filling in forms that require personal information (full name, full address, etc.), is it okay to use a VPN? Or would it compromise your privacy?

The way I’m thinking that it would compromise your privacy is that they would be able to think like this (using Proton VPN as an example):

“This person submitted this form through an IP that is a VPN IP, and it says that it is coming from Proton VPN servers, so this person must be a Proton VPN user.”

Making it so that all the activities you do through that Proton VPN IP address could potentially be linked back to you as you have done activities involving your personal information through that VPN IP.

Such forms would have your full address and personal information anyway so my question of course isn’t about being private or anonymous from where the forms are being submitted, but rather if using a VPN when submitting these forms could compromise your privacy.

3 Answers

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I’d generally say do not use a VPN for anything which you’ve handed over real details to.

We do not recommend the use of VPNs for anything where associated credentials are already tied to you.

This should be more prominently displayed in the vpn overview.

While I understand that the benefits of using a VPN somewhere where the service already knows your identity may be dubious, is it actively harmful to do so, or is it just that there's no huge benefit?

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I'd say it depends on the service/site. It may trigger some sort of fraud/spam detection system which might lock down the account.

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I agree with what dngray said. There’s no reason to use a VPN for anything tied to your real name. By using a VPN for that and anonymous activities (and VPNs do not make you anonymous) or anything tied to a pseudonym, your provider will easily be able to link all of your activities together thus compromising your anonymity or pseudonymity.

While I don't disagree in principle, I wouldn't say that what you're describing isn't as big of a deal as it's made out to be. HTTPS exists. Your VPN provider would see that you're going to your bank's website, and then maybe that you're going to Reddit. That's all it has. It doesn't know which account you login to when you're there. It's still better to compartmentalize your identities, especially if it's mission critical to keep them separate from your person, but I want it to be clear to people that you're not instantly super-duper-deanonymized if you do this.

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True, but why take chances? Even with HTTPS, you're still trusting your VPN, and both your bank and Reddit can see you're using the same VPN.

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What about using Regional IP (Homeland) via VPN ?