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> But then, how do you anonymously lease and manage that VPS? At least on DigitalOcean, it’s possible to create an anonymous account (no name required, not eve
by TimTheTinker 8y ago
> But then, how do you anonymously lease and manage that VPS?
At least on DigitalOcean, it’s possible to create an anonymous account (no name required, not even by their TOS) connected to an anonymous email provider and funded by a cash-purchased Visa gift card. And a $5/mo droplet running IKEv2 VPN traffic (see Algo) is very secure and provides more than enough bandwidth/throughput for several people.
That would only leave the traffic itself (particularly the IP address(es) that initiate connections to your droplet). DO has a policy of not logging traffic unless an abuse alert is triggered.
- kbenson 8y ago> DO has a policy of not logging traffic unless an abuse alert is triggered. I'd be willing to bet they log all the info about the signup process though, including the IP address used. It's how you prevent abuse. The question then becomes, how do you hide your IP address from the DO signup process. I know, used a VPN! Wait a second...
- thefounder 8y agoYou can use pre-pay internet or public wifi to sign up
- andyjh 8y agoWhy can't you just sign up via tor?
- RainaRelanah 8y agoOrdering any server from a tor IP, even dirt cheap shared hosting plans, will trip their fraud detections 100% of the time. You'll likely get an email asking for photo ID.
- SCHiM 8y agoI buy all my vpses via Tor, it takes some effort. But after a while I always manage to find a provider where I can complete the process. So, not all the providers all the time. Just some of them some of the time.
- mirimir 8y agoIt depends on the hoster. BitHost has no problem with Tor exit IPs. Neither does Host Sailor. I know a few others, but sharing names would be imprudent.
- wu-ikkyu 8y agoCould using tor for the signup process work?
- sanbor 8y agoMullvad.net (a VPN provider) gives 3 hour accounts for free. You solve a captcha and they give you an account id to use to connect to their servers. If you want to keep using that account id for more than 3 hours you have to add money to that account. You can pay them in cash (they're in Sweden though) or Bitcoin, credit card, etc. They don't even ask you for your email and they claim to not keep logs that would allow to match an IP and a time stamp to a user [1]. [1] https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/#mullvad https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-...
- TimTheTinker 8y agoNote - Sweden is one of the “14 eyes”, so your browsing session (origin and destination IP, date/time) very well may be logged by their backbone, if not by Mullvad itself.
- TimTheTinker 8y agoOne more thought - connecting via a temporary Mullvad account from a public or obscured entry point (perhaps during an international trip or at a McDonalds) would probably be the most straightforward method. The worst you're giving away is that entry point (to Sweden's loggers), but the DO/VPS fraud detection is less likely to fire if you're going through Mullvad. To be clear, my own goal in all of this is primarily to get through residential ISP snooping -- I don't trust them not to sell my personal info. Staying out of the state dragnets is also a plus (I don't like the idea of snoops in a building somewhere reading my personal emails; same reason I close the living room curtains in the evening).
- mirimir 8y agoYes, one can "anonymously" use WiFi APs. But it's hard to get close enough without becoming observable. And more and more, without being videoed. I've played with a Ubiquiti radio and parabolic antenna, and can hit APs at several km. But then, the dish is pretty big, so you need a large window. And unsecured APs have become harder to find.
- 8y ago
- philipodonnell 8y agoPublic library?
- JudasGoat 8y agoIs that you, Dread Pirate Roberts?
- philipodonnell 8y agoblimey!
- mirimir 8y agoOr just use bithost.io, and get DO droplets for well-mixed Bitcoin. There's a premium, I admit. But even with all that, there's the risk of logging. I don't get how DO differs from whatever "no logging" VPN service, in that regard.
- TimTheTinker 8y agoI don’t trust them implicitly, but I do trust them more than any “VPN service” — to me, those are all honeypots (whether intentionally or not).
- qrbLPHiKpiux 8y agoAlgo
- mreome 8y agoIn the US you have to provide a Social Security number to activate your cash-purchased Visa gift card.
- TimTheTinker 8y agoNot true. There may be some that do, but not all - just know ahead of time before you walk into the store.
- mreome 8y agoIt looks like your correct. I was under the impression that the USA PATRIOT Act required all cash cards to collect that information, but looking up the details it appears to only apply to reloadable cards in that they "establish a banking relationship" with the provider.
- driverdan 8y agoA few years ago I tried that as an experiment. I wanted to see if I could setup completely anonymous Tor exit nodes. It didn't work. I bought a prepaid debit card at a grocery store with cash. I tried to sign up for a few VPS providers using coffee shop WiFi. All wanted additional verification or wouldn't allow me to use the card. All providers use 3rd party services (eg MaxMind) to prevent fraud and prepaid cards is one of the things they look for. Has anyone had luck doing this?
- mirimir 8y agoI've run into the issue as well. You just need to find providers that don't ask.