Do you use VPN?

lepidotós · Apr 2, 2023

ajay96 said:
A lot of countries restrict access to websites

I suppose, if you really, really need it.

ajay96 said:
& track a lot more compared to the US/UK.

Both of which are members of Five Eyes, so I kinda doubt it. But that's irrelevant; IP tracking is utterly useless compared to cookies and JavaScript fingerprinting (see here) that don't even look at where you're connecting from.

Hele · Apr 2, 2023

I use ProtonVPN on my iPhone and on my Windows laptop. Always on.

ajay96 · Apr 2, 2023

lepidotós said:
I suppose, if you really, really need it.

Both of which are members of Five Eyes, so I kinda doubt it. But that's irrelevant; IP tracking is utterly useless compared to cookies and JavaScript fingerprinting (see here) that don't even look at where you're connecting from.

There’s much more out there than the five eyes regarding privacy concerns. Bypassing censorship in many countries is just one of the other uses.

lepidotós · Apr 2, 2023

ajay96 said:
There’s much more out there than the five eyes regarding privacy concerns. Bypassing censorship in many countries is just one of the other uses

If it was that easy, Tor wouldn't exist.

ajay96 · Apr 2, 2023

lepidotós said:
If it was that easy, Tor wouldn't exist.

I don’t think the average person would need to go the route of Tor to access a website that’s blocked in a country.

2Xtreme21 · Apr 3, 2023

I have a subscription with TorGuard for a dedicated IP in the US in order to watch US content on Netflix and the like (I’m in Europe). It’s set up on a secondary router at home so all devices can access it.

While I also have it set up on my phone and iPad, I rarely turn it on due to the increased latency (though I can use a server in my country if I wanted).

ifxf · Apr 9, 2023

NordVPN use when on public wifi if i access any financial account. Also might use it at home to bypass my pihole if a website breaks.

Apple_Robert · Apr 9, 2023

I always use a VPN. T-Mobile had no business tracking everything I do.

Bazza1 · Apr 12, 2023

Just to be clear, having a VPN does not necessarily equate with having added security or privacy. While a VPN may offer a harder-to-penetrate tunnel between you and the provider's servers, if they don't apply security measures at their end, then that all comes back down to your connection anyway. VPN may be a go-to for you to access some other country's Netflix or the BBC iPlayer, but may not be the added layer of security you think.

How to know if a VPN is right for you

Watch or listen to just about any VPN ad, and it will make huge claims.

mobilesyrup.com

For my part - as a Canadian - I use the free 'Canadian Shield' service as offered by CIRA (the non-profit organization responsible for administering the .ca protocol), which offers settings to choose how much privacy / security you want added, as well as pre-configured apps for iPhone, Android and extensions for many browsers. Servers in Canada.

antiprotest · Apr 12, 2023

Free VPN might log, leak, or sell your data.

Paid VPN claim not to log, leak, or sell your data...zero knowledge, end to end encryption, etc. -- BUT THEY LIE.

If you get a bad VPN -- and how do you KNOW which one is good, if there is a good one at all? -- then instead of exposing a lot of your information on the internet, you pipe ALL of your information through one point.