Our lives have become increasingly online for more or less every aspect of our day to day, and that certainly doesn’t disappear when we travel for work or holiday and instead only becomes more important – but from country to country there are many different rules and restrictions that apply to the only space that may not be true at home, and without a little due diligence it can be easy to slip out of the lines and fall on the wrong side of things, so what can likely catch you out and how can you ensure that you’re staying on the right side of things whilst operating online whilst abroad?
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Be careful with some online gaming options – Our mobile devices have become multimedia hubs with gaming often at the centre as the primary use for the phone for some, and with a huge number of gaming options available there’s certainly plenty of variety. Caution does need to be taken for some, however, with the rising popularity such as online gambling where some can be found here away from restrictions such as Gamstop, not all countries allow the use of the games and can carry hefty fines if use is discovered – before you go away, be sure to check rules and regs around online gaming to make sure that your favourite service doesn’t fall under the red flag as something that could land you in a spot of bother.
That goes for those VPN’s too – Other services such as VPN’s have certainly become a priority for many on mobile too, if you’re not using one you’ve certainly seen the adverts that are seemingly attached to every tech YouTuber or online ad these days. If you are using one of a regular basis, it may be important to do a check before you travel as much like gaming there are some countries that frown upon the use of VPN’s and even remains illegal in some too – it isn’t a widespread issue, but certainly something to consider as you could end up in prison depending on where you’re travelling.
Be sure to monitor your own data usage and online security – Whilst using your own personal data during travelling might incur roaming costs, there may be other issues too – public Wi-Fi and public data usage might feel secure when you’re at home but there’s no guarantee the same is true when you’re abroad depending on which carrier you change over to and where you use it – be sure to keep on top of your data usage and do whatever possible to ensure your own online privacy and security particularly whilst abroad to ensure you’re staying as safe as possible. It may seem like a bit of a no brainer, but there’s a long list of people who felt that simply popping online whilst abroad wouldn’t be an issue only to find a list of problems to do with when they had returned home.