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Quick summary: Top VPNs don't actually care about your privacy. Shoooockkeer of the century

better0uts1d3 7y ago
You mean giving third parties control of your privacy, security and anonymity was a bad idea all along?
fyrefoxboy12 7y ago
I'm sure they really care about your "privacy" -- as long as they can track you and up their profits so, in total: a regular business
- teslademigod1 7y ago
  Any third party will behave this way. This is the behavior of businesses that need to increase their effectiveness. of course, if you want "absolute" privacy and security, NONE of these VPN companies will fit the bill
  - fyrefoxboy12 7y ago
    i don't know if that's particularly practical to build up your own VPN if that's your implication?
    - teslademigod1 7y ago
      actually much easier than you'd think https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/how-to-build-your-own-vpn-if-youre-rightfully-wary-of-commercial-options/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/how-to-build-your-ow...
      - fyrefoxboy12 7y ago
        Thanks for the link. let me quickly check it out
        sccxy 7y ago
        Even easier setup: https://github.com/pivpn/pivpn https://github.com/pivpn/pivpn Wireguard is faster & easier to set up for mobile devices.
        teslademigod1 7y ago
        awesome resource
      - nabnob 7y ago
        Thanks, this is super helpful. Do you think it's possible to have real privacy/security for someone who faces state suppression a la Edward Snowden?
  - AnthonyMouse 7y ago
    > Any third party will behave this way. This is the behavior of businesses that need to increase their effectiveness. It's really not the "third parties" to blame here for the most part. You can make a viable business from selling a VPN service in exchange for money with a contractual requirement that you be respecting privacy in particular ways, so that you can actually get in trouble for not doing it. But when Shady VPN Corp. starts offering the "same" service for "free" under a different contract because they're logging everything and selling your data, and then all the customers go over there because who doesn't like a free lunch, whose fault is that really?
    - teslademigod1 7y ago
      I hope that, by now, with all the research coming out about that, that people would have stopped using free VPNs by now. it's more than likely a big hustle to do something shady
      - AnthonyMouse 7y ago
        > it's more than likely a big hustle to do something shady Of course it is. But it's also the case that doing the opposite of whatever idiots do isn't necessarily smart. It's like the thing where people say don't use Google because "if you're not the customer you're the product" but then the same people are pushing Microsoft products that not only charge you money but then still do the same thing as Google or worse. If you're not paying them then you can guess how they're making money, but just because you are paying them doesn't mean they're not doing the same thing. You still have to read the fine print.
gumby 7y ago
Quick summary — top vpn companies use the same trackers as most other when you visit the provider’s website to sign up or download. Says nothing about the actual operation of the VPN itself. I block the website trackers anyway, so clearly I don’t approve of them. But TBF this has nothing to do with your experience as a customer.

You mean giving third parties control of your privacy, security and anonymity was a bad idea all along?

I'm sure they really care about your "privacy" -- as long as they can track you and up their profits so, in total: a regular business

teslademigod1 7y ago
Any third party will behave this way. This is the behavior of businesses that need to increase their effectiveness. of course, if you want "absolute" privacy and security, NONE of these VPN companies will fit the bill
- fyrefoxboy12 7y ago
  i don't know if that's particularly practical to build up your own VPN if that's your implication?
  - teslademigod1 7y ago
    actually much easier than you'd think https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/how-to-build-your-own-vpn-if-youre-rightfully-wary-of-commercial-options/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/how-to-build-your-ow...
    - fyrefoxboy12 7y ago
      Thanks for the link. let me quickly check it out
      - sccxy 7y ago
        Even easier setup: https://github.com/pivpn/pivpn https://github.com/pivpn/pivpn Wireguard is faster & easier to set up for mobile devices.
        teslademigod1 7y ago
        awesome resource
    - nabnob 7y ago
      Thanks, this is super helpful. Do you think it's possible to have real privacy/security for someone who faces state suppression a la Edward Snowden?
- AnthonyMouse 7y ago
  > Any third party will behave this way. This is the behavior of businesses that need to increase their effectiveness. It's really not the "third parties" to blame here for the most part. You can make a viable business from selling a VPN service in exchange for money with a contractual requirement that you be respecting privacy in particular ways, so that you can actually get in trouble for not doing it. But when Shady VPN Corp. starts offering the "same" service for "free" under a different contract because they're logging everything and selling your data, and then all the customers go over there because who doesn't like a free lunch, whose fault is that really?
  - teslademigod1 7y ago
    I hope that, by now, with all the research coming out about that, that people would have stopped using free VPNs by now. it's more than likely a big hustle to do something shady
    - AnthonyMouse 7y ago
      > it's more than likely a big hustle to do something shady Of course it is. But it's also the case that doing the opposite of whatever idiots do isn't necessarily smart. It's like the thing where people say don't use Google because "if you're not the customer you're the product" but then the same people are pushing Microsoft products that not only charge you money but then still do the same thing as Google or worse. If you're not paying them then you can guess how they're making money, but just because you are paying them doesn't mean they're not doing the same thing. You still have to read the fine print.

gumby 7y ago

Quick summary — top vpn companies use the same trackers as most other when you visit the provider’s website to sign up or download. Says nothing about the actual operation of the VPN itself. I block the website trackers anyway, so clearly I don’t approve of them. But TBF this has nothing to do with your experience as a customer.