Not everyone wants an always-on microphone in their home, no matter how cool it is to control your light bulbs with your voice. If you're buying gifts for someone who gets nervous about this brave new world with everything listening to us, showering them with a few of these privacy-friendly gifts might help them relax and enjoy the little things in life.

Like targeted ads, or unmarked cars waiting just around the corner.

After putting up with what my roommates and I like to joke is the "first Roku ever made" for the past few years, I recently decided to do all my video watching through my PlayStation 4 instead. The experience has been a million times better (no more lag, random crashes, or app designs that haven't been updated in years), but it also got me thinking about whether I could use a virtual private network (VPN) on my gaming console to improve things even more.

Today we're arming you with everything you need to know to understand and use virtual private networks.

Certain users of the privacy-minded Tor web browser should download the app's latest update, which adds a temporary fix to prevent the browser from leaking identifying information, namely IP addresses. The TorMoil bug, as named by the security research company that discovered the vulnerability, We Are Segment, can take advantage of a flaw in the browser to uncover a user's real IP address, outing anonymous browsers should they click on a particular type of link.

Virtual private networks (or VPNs) are great for protecting your privacy and data while you browse the web. They provide increased security on public Wi-Fi networks (coffee shops, airports, etc), and prevent ISPs from collecting personal data, data they want to sell to advertisers. VPNs are also pretty good at letting users circumvent location-based content restrictions put in place by companies like YouTube, Spotify and Netflix. While they're not foolproof, here's how to pick a VPN, and boost your chance of enjoying Game Of Thrones without paying Foxtel a dime.