most people don't need a vpn, check what you're actually leaking first
curl -s ipinfo.io | jq '{city,org}'hot take incoming
everyone and their cousin is selling you a vpn like it's a forcefield. it's not. a vpn hides your ip from the site you're visiting, but it does nothing about the fifty other ways you're leaking info every single day. before you hand over $12/month, run one command and see what's actually exposed. spoiler: it's probably not your ip.
the command
open a terminal and run this:
curl -s ipinfo.io | jq '{city,org}'here's what's happening, piece by piece:
curl -s ipinfo.io quietly (that's what -s does, no progress bar junk) sends a request to ipinfo.io, a service that looks at the ip address your request came from and sends back data about it. it doesn't need you to log in or install anything. this is the exact same lookup any website, ad network, or shady script can do the second you load a page.
jq takes the raw json response and lets you filter it. '{city,org}' just says "only show me the city and the org (your isp or hosting provider) fields," instead of dumping the whole blob with your coordinates, timezone, and postal code.
run it. now you know what every website already knows about you before you even log in.
why this matters more than your ip
a vpn changes your ip address. that's it. that's the whole trick. it doesn't stop:
browser fingerprinting, which looks at your screen resolution, fonts, installed plugins, and timezone to build an id that's often more unique than your ip.
account-based tracking, meaning if you're logged into google or facebook, they know exactly who you are regardless of what ip you're coming from.
dns leaks, where your vpn tunnels your traffic but your dns requests still go out through your regular network, quietly telling everyone which sites you're visiting.
a vpn is one lock on one door. the house has a lot of doors.
check your real exposure, not just your ip
instead of throwing money at a vpn subscription blind, do a quick audit:
run curl -s ipinfo.io without the jq filter to see the full data set your public ip reveals, including your approximate location and hosting/isp info.
visit a browser fingerprinting test site (coveryourtracks.eff.org is a solid free one) to see how unique and trackable your browser setup actually is.
check for dns leaks with a site like dnsleaktest.com, especially if you already use a vpn and assume you're covered.
look at what permissions your browser extensions have. a lot of "free" extensions are quietly reading every page you visit, which is a much bigger leak than your ip ever was.
when a vpn actually helps
not saying vpns are useless, they have real, specific jobs: encrypting your traffic on untrusted wifi like coffee shops or airports, hiding your ip from a specific service you don't trust, or getting around network-level blocking. that's a legit use case. what it's not is a general-purpose privacy cape that makes you invisible online.
the takeaway
don't buy a tool to fix a problem you haven't actually confirmed you have. run curl -s ipinfo.io | jq '{city,org}', look at what's really visible, then decide what's worth locking down. for most people that means tightening browser settings, ditching sketchy extensions, and using private dns, way before it means paying for a vpn. know your actual exposure first. then defend it on purpose, not by default.