I'm asked this questions at least 5 times a week.

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. The textbook def is: Every time you search or surf the web your ISP is tracking you. In my book that's none of their business. I'm NOT breaking the law and I know I'm using a service from them BUT I demand my right to privacy.
Google "Whats my IP location" If I turn on my VPN it changes to the server I'm logged into and the IP address it assigned. The only thing my ISP see's is I'm at the VPN's site.
The VPN I use is "IPvanish".It gives me the ability to pick a server from just about anywhere in the world.
My wife likes a tv show from Canada but it wont stream to the US worth a crap, I change my location to a server in Canada and bingo. (My ISP doesnt like TV streaming sites)

Will a VPN protect/hide you while breaking the law? Yes and no. If the crime fits the need to find you they will, Period.
Downloading the FSM for a 87 p/u wont.

 

however, the VPN end point still sees your traffic when it passes through their server.... so while your relatively trustworthy (a large corp with millions of subscribers) ISP may see your traffic without a vpn... your VPN provider who may or may not be as trustworthy sees your traffic when you are connected to their network. VPNs work great to connect a home computer or laptop back to a corporate network environment but i would never use one for general web browsing because i dont know who's network i'm joining.

Besides most web traffic is SSL encrypted so yes you're ISP can in theory see that you went to yotatech.com or pornhub.com or facebook.com.... the information that you view on those sites is encrypted and they cant see what you searched for or read.

 

I'm not looking to start an argument but I disagree.
If you use a VPN for your connection to the Corp office for security why not for all other connections?
Trustworthy? Thats why you dont use any of the "free" sites. Pick a VPN that has a history and a rep to match not to mention outfits that dont store logs.
"Most traffic is SSL encripted" Most being the key word, but even still "MITM" attacks have successfully targeted SSL and SSH. (Dsniff)
And yes I admit am putting my faith in a VPN service doing the right thing and nothing is 100% foolproof but the more layers you have are you not better off?