There’s beauty and majesty to be found on each of Indonesia’s 17,000 islands. But no matter which island you’re on, to protect your privacy, you need a VPN in Indonesia.
Government surveillance, ISP censorship, and ruthless hackers are just some of the threats you face online. Let’s take a closer look and find out how a VPN can protect you.
Top 10 Reasons Why You Need a VPN While in Indonesia
1. Internet Censorship Is Pervasive in Indonesia
In 2018, Indonesia rolled out its new $14 billion online censorship system. The system crawls the web and scans for “negative” content, then blocks any sites that are found to contain that content.
But “negative content” is a broad term, encompassing around 10% of the internet according to a trial run of the system. In fact, it includes everything from pornography to LGBT information to gambling sites to so-called “fake news.”
In order to access such content in Indonesia, you’ll need to use a VPN. A VPN encrypts your traffic so that government censors can’t tell what sites you’re visiting.
2. Your Favorite Apps Might Not Work in Indonesia
Over the years, just about every popular app has been banned or censored in Indonesia for one reason or another.
In 2017, for example, the encrypted messaging app Telegram was banned by the Indonesian government. Telegram eventually got the ban lifted by agreeing to install a filter on its systems to censor certain content.
And in 2019, three of the world’s biggest apps — Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram — were blocked in response to political riots. During this three-day block, VPN usage surged in popularity in Indonesia.
There’s a good reason for that: a VPN’s encryption lets you use whatever apps you want, even if the government tries to block them.
3. Indonesia Operates a Massive Internet Surveillance Network
Indonesia has been conducting mass internet surveillance since at least 2012. That’s the earliest record in the country of the FinFisher software — a program designed to allow governments to monitor all internet communications.
And in 2018, the Indonesian government created a “war room” dedicated to monitoring social media sites in real time.
So if you feel like you’re being watched in Indonesia, it’s because you are. Protect yourself by encrypting your internet traffic with a VPN.
4. Indonesia Is Trying to Create Its Own Version of Five Eyes
The Five Eyes surveillance alliance is notorious for its clandestine intelligence sharing and mass surveillance of digital communications. And although Indonesia isn’t a member, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t want in on the action.
Indonesia created the Our Eyes Initiative, a sort of spinoff of Five Eyes comprised of itself, Malaysia and the Philippines. Like Five Eyes, Our Eyes engages in international surveillance and internet monitoring.
But Our Eyes, like all eyes, can’t break a VPN’s encryption. To keep your data away from these shady spy groups, use a VPN whenever you go online.
5. Your Internet Activity in Indonesia Could Have Devastating Consequences
Defamation laws in Indonesia are taken very seriously, especially online. And the government monitors the internet fervently, waiting for you to slip up.
Take the student Florence Sihombing, who made a social media post criticizing the town she was studying in. She was arrested for the post and sentenced to two months in jail.
And several years before that, a woman named Wisni Yetty was arrested for defaming her husband by discussing his abuse in a private Facebook chat. She was sentenced to five months in prison and a $7,700 fine.
Though you should always be careful what you say online, a VPN can help you avoid these absurd consequences. It hides your real IP address, preventing authorities from monitoring your posts and messages and tracking you down.
6. A VPN Helps You Maintain Privacy When Torrenting
You’re not likely to face jail time for torrenting in Indonesia, but that doesn’t mean it’s totally safe. Copyright trolls collect IP addresses from torrent peer lists, then attempt to extort money from you under threat of legal action.
But you don’t need to deal with the trolls at all if you use a VPN. It masks your real IP address so your true identity remains separate from your torrents.
7. VPNs Let You Circumvent ISP Throttling and Site Blocks
In Indonesia, ISPs are free to control both your internet speeds and the sites you visit. If your ISP doesn’t want you watching Netflix, it’s likely to slow down all Netflix traffic, or even block the site altogether.
But there’s nothing an ISP can do if you use a VPN. A VPN prevents your ISP from seeing what sites you visit, so it can’t discriminate against them or prevent you from seeing them.
8. Your Streaming Options Widen When You Use a VPN
If you get your entertainment via streaming websites, you may run out of new content in Indonesia. That’s because Netflix, Hulu and other sites limit the amount of content that Indonesian users can view.
To view that content anyway, just change your location with a VPN. You’ll be able to access the massive libraries available to the US, the UK, Canada and other countries.
9. Workplace Internet Filters Aren’t Effective Against VPNs
Of course you should prioritize working while you’re on the clock, but sometimes you just don’t want to deal with workplace WiFi censors. They prevent you from accessing social media and games, but other, more innocuous websites often get caught in the crossfire.
A VPN makes your workplace’s internet filters virtually useless. The filters rely on the URLs you visit to work, but a VPN hides the URLs behind ultra-tough encryption, rendering them invisible to the filters.
10. Stay Safe on Public WiFi by Using a VPN
When it comes to public WiFi, it’s better to be safe than sorry. And being safe means assuming that any public WiFi network you use has been compromised by hackers who want to steal your data.
Don’t risk your identity, your finances and your privacy for a bit of free WiFi. Use a VPN to lock down your data no matter what network you’re on.
