NordVPN comments on the internet's 28th birthday: 'Why are we still being watched?'

The internet turns 28 years old this year. While its founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee said that it has largely lived up to the vision of being an open platform for information sharing and collaboration across the globe, privacy is still a major issue.

Berners-Lee says that people often don't mind when their private data is collected, but in his words "We lose out on the benefits we could realise if we had direct control over this data, and chose when and with whom to share it."

He also says people also can't really control what they'd rather not share - and they're being monitored by the government.

NordVPN, a VPN provider, says it has been criticising the increasing level of government surveillance for a long time. CMO Marty P. Kamden says surveillance should not happen this way.

"Modern democracies should avoid such authoritarian surveillance methods as bulk hacking of thousands of computers, keeping Internet records for years and viewing them without a warrant, or legally obliging ISPs to assist in hacking and decryption," he says.

NordVPN says that if governments have access to web browsing data and metadata, the open gap is not only a risk for mishandled data, but it can also be a way for hackers to get in.

VPNs are becoming a more common way of ensuring strong data protection that goes beyond the built-in settings. They encrypt a user's internet traffic data through a secure tunnel before accessing the internet.

"VPNs are a solution for people to stay private online while the governments realise that a number of recent laws are too intrusive," Kamden says.

VPNs can also be customised to use the toughest security protocols set up by default. Using Signal for encrypted messages and DuckDuckGo for a private browsing experience can also help users stay safe online.

NordVPN believes in 'barrier-free internet' and online privacy. The company believes that governments should protect privacy and online security.

"Hopefully, the 29th anniversary of World Wide Web will mark the time when web is becoming safer for all its users," the company concludes.