How to explain the importance of a VPN to your parents this Christmas

How to explain the importance of a VPN to your parents this Christmas Features (Image credit: Shutterstock) Zoran Danilovic published What else would you chat about over Christmas dinner? Christmas, for a lot of people, means getting together with family, sharing good food, and catching up properly. But every now and then, somewhere between dessert and a second cup of tea, those conversations drift beyond small talk and into things that actually matter: work, money, family worries, or why everything feels more complicated than it used to be, especially online. To be fair, in 2025, the topic of digital privacy has been hard to ignore. Age verification checks , internet censorship, and Australia’s social media ban have a habit of coming up, even if nobody planned to mention them. These are no longer niche tech debates. They affect how people shop, browse, travel, and stay in touch. That is where the awkward question often comes in. How do you explain something like a VPN to your parents or any non-techy family member without sounding dramatic or overly technical? This guide is here to help. It gives you a few simple conversation starters and practical talking points you can use to explain what today's best VPNs are, why they matter, and why using them doesn't have to be complicated. Think of it less as a lecture and more as a calm, constructive chat over Christmas pudding. Holiday hoaxes Christmas is when most people do more online shopping than at any other time of year. That means inboxes quickly fill up with discount deals, order confirmations, and tracking notifications, all arriving at once in perfect chaos. Unfortunately, this is exactly why scammers ramp things up over the Christmas period. More online shopping means more ads, more links, and more last-minute offers competing for attention, creating far more opportunities for fake websites, copycat ads, and misleading links to slip through. The best secure VPNs often flag suspicious websites, block known malicious ads, and warn users before they click dodgy links According to AARP, 39% of people have encountered fraud while trying to buy a product through an online ad, often tied to deals that appear at just the right moment. This is where you gently clear your throat and say, "This is why I keep recommending a VPN." A VPN won't magically stop scams from existing. Nothing does. But, what it can do is reduce how exposed they are while shopping. The best secure VPNs often flag suspicious websites, block known malicious ads, and warn users before they click links that look legitimate but are not. That kind of protection matters when fake delivery messages and copycat retail sites are at their peak. You should also mention encryption, which sounds technical but is actually very simple. A VPN encrypts their internet connection, so personal details, account logins, and payment information are scrambled while they browse and shop online. This makes data far harder for anyone else to intercept. They're easy to use -...

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