5 ms·

I think that's painting with a pretty broad brush. What's wrong with Mullvad, for example?

casefields 5y ago
The issue here preference falsification: >Preference falsification is the act of communicating a preference that differs from one's true preference. The public frequently conveys, especially to researchers or pollsters, preferences that differ from what they truly want, often because they believe the conveyed preference is more acceptable socially. The reason why the VPN business is booming is to avoid those pesky content infringement letters, and to workaround geo restrictions. OP is upset that they advertise themselves as privacy tools, but that's just marketing.
- KingMachiavelli 5y ago
  Yea you don't legally market your product as a tool to commit a crime but 'privacy' is pretty broad term and partially true so it works.
symlinkk 5y ago
Who runs Mullvad? I find it funny that people here mistrust companies like Facebook and Google, but then turn around and hand off their entire network activity to a faceless, anonymous VPN company.
- olivierestsage 5y ago
  I think a lot of that distinction turns on how well your network data is linked to your identity. In the case of Mullvad, you can pay them anonymously by putting cash in an envelope and just mailing it to them,[1] which lowers the trust factor involved. [1] https://mullvad.net/en/pricing/ https://mullvad.net/en/pricing/
  - woah 5y ago
    They still have your real IP address, which is what you were trying to hide in the first place
- wolverine876 5y ago
  Have you tried answering that question? Mullvad isn't faceless and anonymous.
dehrmann 5y ago
VPNs mostly do what they claim, but they may or may not be government or marketing honeypots, and a lot of the sales pitches around hackers and privacy aren't as interesting in the days of HTTPS. Aside from piracy and bypassing region restrictions, you're just hiding your IP address, but those change often enough already.

The issue here preference falsification: >Preference falsification is the act of communicating a preference that differs from one's true preference. The public frequently conveys, especially to researchers or pollsters, preferences that differ from what they truly want, often because they believe the conveyed preference is more acceptable socially. The reason why the VPN business is booming is to avoid those pesky content infringement letters, and to workaround geo restrictions. OP is upset that they advertise themselves as privacy tools, but that's just marketing.

KingMachiavelli 5y ago
Yea you don't legally market your product as a tool to commit a crime but 'privacy' is pretty broad term and partially true so it works.

symlinkk 5y ago

Who runs Mullvad? I find it funny that people here mistrust companies like Facebook and Google, but then turn around and hand off their entire network activity to a faceless, anonymous VPN company.

olivierestsage 5y ago
I think a lot of that distinction turns on how well your network data is linked to your identity. In the case of Mullvad, you can pay them anonymously by putting cash in an envelope and just mailing it to them,[1] which lowers the trust factor involved. [1] https://mullvad.net/en/pricing/ https://mullvad.net/en/pricing/
- woah 5y ago
  They still have your real IP address, which is what you were trying to hide in the first place
wolverine876 5y ago
Have you tried answering that question? Mullvad isn't faceless and anonymous.

dehrmann 5y ago

VPNs mostly do what they claim, but they may or may not be government or marketing honeypots, and a lot of the sales pitches around hackers and privacy aren't as interesting in the days of HTTPS. Aside from piracy and bypassing region restrictions, you're just hiding your IP address, but those change often enough already.