Public WiFi Is Safer. In the good, old days, using public WiFi hotspots in hotels and airports wasn't very safe. Unencrypted traffic from your computer to the the hotspots in public places was able to be intercepted by sniffer software in the vicinity, and hackers could steal personal information, including user names and passwords. However, modern websites almost always encrypt all traffic to and from the hotspots. Check the web address for the magical "S" at the end of the "http" heading. If it says "https", the traffic is already encrypted. In addition to this safeguard, many modern websites permit two factor authentication for access, giving another layer of protection when accessing data on the site. Finally, many of us carry our hotspots with us, in that we can use the already encrypted data accessed by our phones from the carrier we subscribe to, which totally avoids the need for public WiFi. Make your own hotspot, and use your phone's data to do it. Many carriers now provide "unlimited" data for this purpose, and you can purchase gigs of data for a few dollars more a month. The hotspot in my car can be used to access up to 2 gigs of data a month, while my smartphones can use up to 15 gigs a month for an extra $15 a month added to my smartphone bill. Of course, sniffers can still intercept unencrypted traffic in public places, so it pays to be careful out there. Don't obsess over it, however. You are safer than you think.
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