Dumb Question Corner – VPN vs. Private Relay

Listener Lynda asks (generalised a little):

I’m sitting in a hotel and my VPN appears to be working fine on the Hotel wifi.

I am, tho, getting notices from Private Relay, saying that it is not working due to a software conflict. Which of these would be more secure in this kind of setting?

The fundament point to bear in mind is that a VPN is a security control, and private relay is a privacy control. That makes the choice obvious and trivial IMO — security is more important, so the VPN is more important.

There is another interesting subtlety that makes the choice even easier. Private relay sends HTTP traffic through proxies to obscure your true IP, but a VPN sends ALL your traffic through a tunnel which also obscures your true IP, so actually, you’re not losing anything by just using the VPN!

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