VPNs are the necessity that not everyone knows they need.

Over 70 percent of respondents to a PCMag survey haven't even used a VPN. Yet the reasons to use one far outweigh any concerns. Privacy is chief among them, particularly during a stream of news about security breaches. But as in most things, actual VPN users are motivated by more mundane and tangible things.

This Statista chart shows that access to entertainment is top of mind when people do seek out a VPN: Over 50 percent of mobile and PC/laptop users gave this as their reason for using one. Streaming services like Netflix offer content based on location, and using a VPN can circumvent this, giving users a wider choice. Netflix is onto the trick, though, and has acted accordingly, banning accounts it finds to be using a VPN. Of course, there's a way around it, and a host of VPNs can still be used with the service.

The other reasons respondents gave for using a VPN involve concerns about privacy, vulnerabilities associated with social networks like Facebook, and circumventing censorship in countries like China.

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