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The VPN that I connect directly to, I pay with a credit card. They know who I am, so why bother trying to hide. All other VPNs in my chains, I pay with Bitcoin

The VPN that I connect directly to, I pay with a credit card. They know who I am, so why bother trying to hide. All other VPNs in my chains, I pay with Bitcoin that's been mixed multiple times. I have a bunch of Whonix instances that I use for mixing and storing Bitcoin. They all hit Tor through nested VPN chains. Each one has an Electrum wallet. It gets its Bitcoin from another Whonix instance through a mixing service. In any given mixing chain, I use a different mixing service for each step. So then, generally, VPNs that I use less directly get paid with Bitcoin that's been mixed more times. And I never use the same Bitcoin wallet to pay for VPNs at different "levels". Edit: You say: > But many people already trust Amazon with ... I trust Amazon with all those things. As my meatspace identity. But I wouldn't trust them with information that associates my meatspace identity with Mirimir.

mijoharas 7y ago
Genuine question. Why?
- mirimir 7y ago
  Well, I actually wouldn't trust anyone with that. But Amazon, less so. Because they're totally profit driven. And wouldn't think twice before pwning me. I want to remain pseudonymous. Basically so I don't need to worry about damaging my meatspace reputation. And what would be the point of going to all that trouble, if I were going to compromise myself?
  - mijoharas 7y ago
    Sorry, I just realised my question was super ambiguous as to which part of your post I was asking "Why" to. I was specifically asking why you go to such large efforts to obscure your identity. You've answered that, but it definitely seems a lot of effort to go to.
    - mirimir 7y ago
      It's also, frankly, a hobby. And an expression of my commitment to privacy, freedom, etc.
    - mirimir 7y ago
      About being lots of effort. It was lots of effort. Some years ago. Mostly in learning how to do it. But now it's only maintenance. Not much more than maintaining my perimeter router.
      - kragen 7y ago
        It would be really interesting to see a how-to writeup so that other people can obtain the same levels of privacy without having to go through the steps of learning everything the hard way like you did. Also, it would probably help your privacy if there were other people doing the same thing.
kragen 7y ago
Interesting! Which VPN providers can you recommend?
- mirimir 7y ago
  For many years, I've recommended AirVPN, Insorg, IVPN and Mullvad. And formerly BolehVPN and PIA. There was chatter about BolehVPN's logging policy. And now about PIA's acquisition by a firm with an iffy reputation. Those are all relatively old, compared to mainstream VPN services. So there's been more time for bad news to come out. I've also used older ones, such as Cryptohippie and Rayservers. They're among the first OpenVPN-based services. Cryptohippie used to be quite expensive, with a ~low usage limit. But now its price is comparable to many others, and I don't see a usage cap. It's not as fast as many others, but arguably far better secured against adversaries. Rayservers is extremely old school. They only accept gold-based electronic currencies (Truledger and Loom). Those are pre-Bitcoin. I'm not sure whether they still work. There are others that I use. But I'm not going to talk about them.
  - kragen 7y ago
    Thank you for sharing your experience!

mijoharas 7y ago

Genuine question. Why?

mirimir 7y ago
Well, I actually wouldn't trust anyone with that. But Amazon, less so. Because they're totally profit driven. And wouldn't think twice before pwning me. I want to remain pseudonymous. Basically so I don't need to worry about damaging my meatspace reputation. And what would be the point of going to all that trouble, if I were going to compromise myself?
- mijoharas 7y ago
  Sorry, I just realised my question was super ambiguous as to which part of your post I was asking "Why" to. I was specifically asking why you go to such large efforts to obscure your identity. You've answered that, but it definitely seems a lot of effort to go to.
  - mirimir 7y ago
    It's also, frankly, a hobby. And an expression of my commitment to privacy, freedom, etc.
  - mirimir 7y ago
    About being lots of effort. It was lots of effort. Some years ago. Mostly in learning how to do it. But now it's only maintenance. Not much more than maintaining my perimeter router.
    - kragen 7y ago
      It would be really interesting to see a how-to writeup so that other people can obtain the same levels of privacy without having to go through the steps of learning everything the hard way like you did. Also, it would probably help your privacy if there were other people doing the same thing.

kragen 7y ago

Interesting! Which VPN providers can you recommend?

mirimir 7y ago
For many years, I've recommended AirVPN, Insorg, IVPN and Mullvad. And formerly BolehVPN and PIA. There was chatter about BolehVPN's logging policy. And now about PIA's acquisition by a firm with an iffy reputation. Those are all relatively old, compared to mainstream VPN services. So there's been more time for bad news to come out. I've also used older ones, such as Cryptohippie and Rayservers. They're among the first OpenVPN-based services. Cryptohippie used to be quite expensive, with a ~low usage limit. But now its price is comparable to many others, and I don't see a usage cap. It's not as fast as many others, but arguably far better secured against adversaries. Rayservers is extremely old school. They only accept gold-based electronic currencies (Truledger and Loom). Those are pre-Bitcoin. I'm not sure whether they still work. There are others that I use. But I'm not going to talk about them.
- kragen 7y ago
  Thank you for sharing your experience!